Here are the stories from the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO)(ASX: XJO) and Australian finance circles today. Rask Media has your financial news sorted.
First, here are the data points:
Australian Dollar ($A) (AUDUSD): 72.18 US cents
Dow Jones (DJI) (Friday): down 0.8%
Oil (WTI): $US59.87 per barrel
Gold: $US1,210 per ounce
Finance News
Economic headlines later this week will include data on NAB’s October business confidence survey and Australia’s lending finance numbers for September. In addition, the Westpac–Melbourne Institute consumer confidence figures for November will be released.
In sharemarket and business news today, casinos business SKYCITY Entertainment Group (ASX: SKC) provided a trading update at the UBS investment conference in Sydney. For the financial year to the 7th of November 2018, SKYCITY said its normalised group revenue was up 7% year over year. Excluding its Darwin operations, year-to-date normalised revenue was up 8%.
Meanwhile, mining heavyweight Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) announced the successful completion of a $2.87 billion off-market share buyback. Priced at $69.69, Rio said it was able to buy-back shares at a 14% discount to prevailing market prices.
“We are delighted to be returning US$2.1 billion to our Rio Tinto Limited shareholders through this off-market buy-back,” Rio Chief J-S Jacques said. “Strong demand has enabled us to return the maximum amount, and at a discount of 14 per cent. The remaining US$1.1 billion of funds will be returned through our ongoing buy-back of Rio Tinto plc shares.”
In August, Rio Tinto reported a 3% rise in half-year net profit to $US4.4 billion. At the time, Jacques said maintaining a strong balance sheet was a key pillar to delivering strong returns to shareholders over all time periods. Read more here: 3 Takeaways From Rio’s Report.
Finally, lithium company Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) announced stage 2 of its West Australian Pilgangoora Lithium-Tantalum Project has received board approval. Pilbara Minerals recently made its first shipment from the facility.
“Against a backdrop of significant demand growth for lithium raw materials over the coming decade, the quality and scale of the resource at our Pilgangoora Project demands further expansion,” Managing Director Ken Brinsden said. “In much the same way as we got on with the job in Stage 1, we will work to the same tune in Stage 2.”
Investing Is Hard
Owen Raszkiewicz, the founder of The Rask Group, recently sat down with Tony Hansen, portfolio manager and founder of EGP Capital. Tony is a fantastic thinker and provides unique insights into what it takes to be financially successful in work and life, but especially in investing.
You can download my conversation with Tony using the link to SoundCloud below. It’s also free to stream on iTunes, Castbox, YouTube or wherever you choose to listen.
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