It has been a great start to the week for the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) with all sectors pushing higher at lunch.
This has led to the ASX 200 climbing a sizeable 1.6% to 5,756.5 points at the time of writing.
Here's what has been happening on the index so far today:
GrainCorp receives takeover proposal.
The GrainCorp Ltd (ASX: GNC) share price has rocketed 27% higher today after the grain producer revealed that it has received a $2.4 billion takeover proposal from Long-Term Asset Partners. The asset manager has made a non-binding, indicative proposal to acquire all its shares for a cash consideration of $10.42 per share.
Energy shares storm higher.
Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) shares have been strong performers today after oil prices rebounded higher this morning. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price has surged 4% higher to US$52.96 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 3.6% to US$61.63 a barrel.
Materials sector posting strong gains.
The likes of BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL), and Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) are posting strong gains today after Presidents Trump and Xi made progress at the G-20 meeting. Trump plans to hold off on raising China tariffs to 25% after both Presidents agreed to a 90-day trade truce.
Metcash half year result disappoints.
The Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) share price is down 6.5% at lunch after the wholesale distributor's half year results underwhelmed. Metcash achieved revenue growth of 2.2% to $6.2 billion and underlying profit after tax growth of just 1.2% to $100.3 million.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 so far today has unsurprisingly been GrainCorp after the receipt of its takeover proposal. The next best performer is the Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) share price which is up 11% at lunch following a positive production update. Going the other way is the Metcash share price which is down 6.5%. Not far behind Metcash is the St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price which has fallen 5.5%.
