ANZ in trading halt ahead of capital raising
Banking giant ANZ has placed its shares in a trading halt ahead of an expected announcement about a capital raising.
ANZ says it will undertake an ordinary share placement to institutional and sophisticated investors.
“The placement will commence today and is being conducted for the purpose of raising capital for general corporate purposes,” ANZ said in a statement on Thursday.
The trading halt is expected to be lifted by Monday.
In overnight market news, US stocks finished mostly higher following mixed economic data, but a disappointing earnings report from Disney has weighed on the Dow.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday shed 10.22 points (0.06 per cent) at 17,540.47.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 6.52 (0.31 per cent) at 2,099.84, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 34.40 (0.67 per cent) to 5,139.94.
The Institute for Supply Management said the service sector expanded 4.3 per cent in July to a record high. But payroll firm ADP estimated the US private sector added 185,000 jobs in July, much below the analyst estimate for 220,000 additional jobs.
Disney was by the far the biggest loser in the blue-chip index, falling 9.2 per cent after trimming its forecast for its cable business and saying its Shanghai Disney theme park would not be profitable until after 2016.
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Time Warner, another big media company, slumped 9.0 per cent despite reporting a 14.2 per cent rise in second-quarter earnings to $US971 million ($A1.32 billion). A note from Charles Schwab said the weak Disney report “fostered some uneasiness toward media stocks.”
Viacom fell 7.5 per cent, 21st Century Fox lost 7.0 per cent, CBS shed 4.6 per cent and Comcast dropped 4.7 per cent.
Apple snapped a five-day skid, gaining 0.7 per cent.
Pharma company Baxter International jumped 4.5 per cent after Dan Loeb of the activist hedge fund Third Point said he had taken a seven per cent stake in the company and would seek two board seats. Baxter said it has “engaged in various discussions with representatives of Third Point and expects to continue a constructive dialogue.”
Priceline climbed 5.2 per cent after reporting second-quarter net income of $US12.45 per share, much above the analyst forecast for $US11.98 per share. Gross bookings jumped 11 per cent to $US15 billion.
First Solar surged 16.7 per cent as it reported second-quarter earnings of $US94.5 million, up from $US4.5 million in the year-ago period, on a 65 per cent rise in revenues.
Videogame developer Activision Blizzard bolted 11.8 per cent higher after lifting its full-year forecast on better-than-expected second-quarter results. Sales of its “Warcraft” and “Destiny” games were particularly strong.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.27 per cent from 2.23 per cent Tuesday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.94 per cent from 2.90 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
– Agencies
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