At lunch on Monday the S&P/ASX 200 index has started the week on a disappointing note. The benchmark index is down 0.75% to 6,770.3 points.
Here's what has been happening on the market on Monday:
Bank shares lower.
The big four banks are all trading lower at lunch and are acting as a drag on the benchmark index. The worst performer in the group is the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) share price with a decline of 0.7%. Also sliding lower is the Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) share price. It is down 1% after completing its share purchase plan. Combined with its fully underwritten institutional placement, Bank of Queensland raised $339.7 million.
Dividend shares sinking lower.
Also weighing on the market today have been a number of popular dividend shares. A large group of them are trading notably lower on Monday after going ex-dividend for their latest pay outs. This includes airport operator Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) and toll road giant Transurban Group (ASX: TCL). They are down 4% and 3%, respectively, at lunch.
Pro Medicus deal.
The Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) share price is pushing higher after announcing a deal with Palo Alto based Nines. Today's agreement will see the creation of an offering, based on its Visage 7 technology, hosted on the Google Cloud Platform and will provide Nines with an immensely scalable and highly optimised platform. The agreement's base revenue for Pro Medicus is expected to be in excess of A$6 million over the life of the contract, but has the potential for significant upside.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the index today has been the Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price. The lithium miner's shares are up 7.5% at lunch on the back of no news. The worst performer is the Sydney Airport share price with its 4% decline after trading ex-dividend.
