It has been a positive day of trade for the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) so far on Wednesday.
At lunch the benchmark index is up a further 0.6% to 5,758.3 points thanks partly to gains in the energy and healthcare sectors.
Here's what's been happening on Wednesday:
Blue chip shares rise.
It has been a positive day for blue chip shares. Popular blue chips such as CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), and Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) are all higher at lunch, underpinning the ASX 200's gain.
Energy shares rally.
Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH), Santos Ltd (ASX: STO), Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) shares are all up around 2% at lunch thanks to a rise in oil prices overnight. Oil prices pushed higher due to OPEC production cuts and news of positive trade talks between the United States and China.
Magellan shares up, Platinum shares down.
It has been a tale of two fund managers on Wednesday. At lunch the Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price is up 9% and the Platinum Asset Management Limited (ASX: PTM) share price is down 6%. Magellan's shares were given a boost after brokers responded positively to its latest FUM update.
BHP shares edge lower.
The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is 0.5% lower at lunch. This is despite its shares trading ex-dividend tomorrow for its fully franked $1.43 per share special dividend and a broker note out of the Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) equities desk which revealed that it has retained its outperform rating and $40.00 price target on BHP's shares.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 at lunch is the Magellan share price, closely followed by the Bingo Industries Ltd (ASX: BIN) share price which is up 7%. Investors have been fighting to get hold of the waste management company's shares after it announced that it would divest an asset to help gain approval for its Dial a Dump acquisition. Going the other way is the Platinum share price, followed by the Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA) share price with its 3% decline.
