The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has had a positive start to the week and is up 0.25% to 5,788.6 points at lunch.
Here's what has been happening on the ASX 200 so far today:
Heavyweights start the week higher.
One key reason the ASX 200 is higher today is the positive performance of index heavyweights Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC). Telstra shares have been the highlight of the group with a gain of 1.2% at lunch.
Wesfarmers update disappoints.
One heavyweight that has acted as a drag has been the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price. It is down 2.5% at lunch after a trading update revealed that its Kmart business continued to underperform over the Christmas period. One positive is that the key Bunnings business appears to have traded in line with management's expectations.
Tech shares lower.
Also acting as a bit of a drag on the index today has been the tech sector. A number of tech shares including Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) and WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) have sunk lower today after the Nasdaq tech index underperformed the broader market on Wall Street on Friday.
Mixed day for Syrah Resources.
It has been a mixed day for Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR). This morning I revealed that the graphite miner had replaced JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) as the most shorted share on the Australian share market. On a positive note, the company's shares are up 3% at lunch after announcing the declaration of commercial production at its Balama graphite operation in Mozambique. The Syrah board determined that the criteria to achieve commercial production was met on January 1.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 at lunch is the Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) share price which has rebounded strongly from last week's selloff with a gain of almost 4.5%. Going the other way is the WiseTech Global share price which has fallen 3.5%, closely followed by the BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) share price which is down over 3.5% after Ord Minnett reduced its price target by 4.3% to $19.80 on the back of lower hot rolled coil prices. The broker still has an accumulate rating on its shares.
