The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has followed the lead of U.S. markets and pushed higher on Thursday.
At lunch the benchmark index is up 0.7% to 5,763.8 points thanks to strong gains in the materials, tech, and health care sectors.
Here's what's been happening on the ASX 200 so far today:
Aristocrat Leisure full year result disappoints.
The Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) share price is down 4.5% at lunch after its full year results fell short of the market's expectations. The gaming technology company delivered a 34.3% lift in normalised net profit after tax and before amortisation of acquired intangibles (NPATA) to $729.6 million. This compares to the Bloomberg median estimate of $759 million.
ACCC deals a blow to Bingo Industries.
The Bingo Industries Ltd (ASX: BIN) share price is down over 6% at lunch after the ACCC identified concerns with its planned $577.5 million acquisition of Dial-a-Dump Industries. ACCC Chair Rod Sims said: "Post-acquisition, Bingo would be the largest B&D waste collector and processor and own a substantial amount of dry landfill capacity in Sydney. We are concerned about the effect of the proposed acquisition in relation to processing, landfill and collections."
Mayne Pharma AGM.
The lack of guidance given at its annual general meeting this morning appears to have led to the Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX) share price sinking 10% lower today. The lack of guidance took away the shine from the pharmaceutical company's strong start to FY 2019. Management revealed a significant jump in revenue and gross profit for the first four months of the financial year.
Tech shares are surging higher.
The best performing sector on the ASX 200 so far on Thursday is the tech sector. Strong gains from tech stars such as Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) and WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) means the S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech index is up a solid 2.6% at noon.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 at lunch is the WiseTech Global share price which is up 7%. Not too far behind is the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price and its 6% gain. Going the other way are Bingo, Mayne Pharma, and Aristocrat Leisure. The next worst performer is the Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price which is down 2% due to concerns over its Malaysian operations.
