It has been a disappointing day of trade for the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO). At lunch the benchmark index is down a sizeable 1.1% to 5,595.5 points following heavy declines on Wall Street overnight.
Here is what has been happening on the ASX 200 so far on Tuesday:
REA Group new CEO.
The REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) share price is down 3% at lunch despite the property listings company naming a new chief executive officer. According to the release, REA Group has promoted CFO Owen Wilson to the top job. Wilson will replace Tracey Fellows who is stepping down from her role as CEO in January 2019 to join News Corp.
Fletcher Building higher on asset sale and dividend reinstatement.
The Fletcher Building Limited (ASX: FBU) share price has stormed higher on Tuesday after the building materials company announced the sale of its Formica business to Broadview Holding BV for a sale price of US$840 million (NZ$1,226 million), subject to approvals. In light of this sale and its expected return to profitability in FY 2019, the Fletcher Building board advised that it expects to reinstate its dividend when it announces its half year results in February.
Caltex guidance disappoints.
It has been a disappointing day of trade for the Caltex Australia Limited (ASX: CTX) share price. It fell almost 8% to a 52-week low of $24.95 after providing its guidance for FY 2018. Due largely to the underperformance of its Lytton refinery, Caltex expects Replacement Cost Operating Profit (RCOP) net profit after tax to be between $533 million and $553 million in FY 2018. This compares to FY 2017's RCOP net profit of $638 million.
Gold shares higher.
With the market in selloff mode again, Australian gold miners have benefited from increased demand for risk-off assets. The Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price is up 5% and the St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price is 4.5% higher at lunch.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 at lunch is the Northern Star share price with its 5% gain. Not far behind is the Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price which is up over 4.5% despite there being no news out of the rare earths producer. Going the other way is the Caltex share price with its 7% decline, closely followed by the Smartgroup Corporation Ltd (ASX: SIQ) share price which has fallen 6.5%.
