At lunch on Monday the S&P/ASX 200 index is sinking lower again. At the time of writing the benchmark index is down 2.9% to 6,256.5 points.
Here's what has been happening on the market today:
RBA tipped to cut rates.
At the end of last week cash rate futures were pointing to there being just an 11% chance of a rate cut at the Reserve Bank's meeting on Tuesday. However, a number of experts and economists now feel that there's a very strong chance of a cut tomorrow. One of those is Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) chief economist, Bill Evans. As recently as Friday Mr Evans suggested the next cut would come in April, but due to developments over the weekend, he has now revised this forecast and expects the central bank to cut the cash rate to 0.5% on Tuesday.
Bega Cheese returns.
The Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA) share price is tumbling lower after returning from its trading halt. This morning it posted a 21% decline in half year normalised profit after tax to $15 million. This was caused by a reduced milk supply and softening Chinese infant formula demand. The company also restated its FY 2019 financial statements after identifying data errors. According to the release, Bega incorrectly calculated costs of sales, resulting in an understatement of trade and other payables of $9 million and an overstatement of inventories of $1.5 million.
Coles upgraded.
The Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price has avoided the market selloff and is pushing higher at lunch. The catalyst for this appears to be a broker note out of Macquarie this morning. Its analysts believe the recent pullback in its share price is a buying opportunity. As a result, they have upgraded the supermarket operator's shares to an outperform rating with a $17.20 price target.
Best and worst performers
The best performer on the index at lunch is the Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) share price with a gain of over 3%. This is despite there being no news out of the horticulture company this morning. Going the other way, the worst performer is the Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price with an 11.5% decline. The majority of this decline can be attributed to its shares trading ex-dividend for the iron ore producer's fully franked 76 cents per share interim dividend.
