The Australian share market took a tumble this morning as tech stocks in the US took a plunge. Facebook was one of the worst S&P stocks overnight dropping by almost 5 per cent. It continues to be plagued by the Cambridge Analytica data leak scandal. Google’s parent company Alphabet fell 4.5 per cent after a resurrection of a copyright case from tech company Oracle. And Twitter sank 12 per cent after reports the stock was vulnerable to privacy regulations.
Stocks advancing today include Iron Mountain Incorporated (ASX:INM) and AGL energy (ASX:AGL) - continuing to fall is Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR)
On the commodities front, oil has dropped but gold has clawed itself back. The Australian dollar has also weakened against the US dollar, Euro and pound.
US economic news:
US consumer confidence declined in March for the first time this year, shedding just over 2 points to 127.7 below a forecast of 131. Despite the modest retreat economists believe the index remains historically high suggesting strong months ahead.
Taking all of this into equation, the S&P/ASX 200 index is 0.6 per cent or 32 points down at 5800. On the futures market the SPI is eying a loss of 35 points.
Company news
Construction and industrial services group Global Construction Services (ASX:GCS) has been awarded a new three year contract with CITIC Pacific Mining to continue to provide scaffolding services for the Sino Iron project.
That project is a large scale magnetite iron ore project in WA’s Pilbara region.
GCS will provide labour, materials and equipment for on-going maintenance.
This project means the company can continue to build on revenue streams in the mining, oil and gas sectors.
Shares in Global Construction Services (ASX:GCS) are currently trading 2 per cent higher at $0.74
Best and worst performers of the day
The best performing sector is utilities adding 1.6 per cent to 7559 points while the worst performing sector is consumer discretionary shedding 1 per cent to 2245 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Automative Holdings Group (ASX:AHG), rising 3 per cent to $3.59, followed by shares in Graincorp (ASX:GNC) and AGL Energy (ASX:AGL).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is A2 Milk (ASX:A2M), dropping 6 per cent to $12.23, followed by shares in Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) and Wisetech Global (ASX:WTC).
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,346 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 76.94 US cents.
Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin has fallen 4 per cent to US$7845, Ethereum has fallen about 3.5 per cent to US$446 and Bitcoin Cash dropped 4 per cent to US$882
