At lunch on Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fought back from an early decline and surged higher. The benchmark index is currently up 0.4% to 6,097.4 points.
Here's what is happening on the market today:
Bank shares drag on the market.
The big four banks are all dropping lower on Thursday and are acting as a drag on the market. The worst performer in the group is the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price with a 0.5% decline. One fund manager believes this share price weakness is a buying opportunity.
Newcrest impresses.
The Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) share price is pushing higher on Thursday after delivering a stronger than expected fourth quarter update. For the three months ended 30 June 2020, Newcrest achieved group gold production of 573,000 ounces. This was a 7% increase on the prior quarter and above the consensus estimate of 542,000 ounces. The gold miner achieved this with a better than expected quarterly all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of US$878 per ounce.
Coca-Cola Amatil update.
The Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX: CCL) share price is storming higher today after investors responded very positively to the release of a trading update. According to the update, the beverage giant's performance improved greatly during the month of June after COVID-19 restrictions eased. Coca-Cola Amatil revealed that monthly trading volumes across the group were down approximately 9% compared to June 2019. This was a big improvement on the previous months and resulted in a second quarter volume decline of approximately 23%.
Best and worst ASX 200 shares.
The best performer on the ASX 200 on Thursday has been the AP Eagers Ltd (ASX: APE) share price with a 6% gain. This is despite there being no news out of the auto retailer today. Going the other way, the worst performer is the Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) share price with a 2.5% decline. This may be due to profit taking after some strong gains earlier this week.
