At lunch on Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has given back its morning gains. The benchmark index is flat at 5,153.5 points at the time of writing.
Here's what is happening on the market today:
Bank shares lower.
The big four banks are acting as a drag on the market on Friday. At lunch all four are trading lower. This appears to be due to concerns that APRA could follow the lead of the RBNZ and prevent them paying dividends. Though, this has been refuted by analysts at Citi. The broker believes too many retirees rely on these dividends for APRA to block them. The worst performer in the group is the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price with a decline of almost 1.5%.
Energy shares rocket higher.
Energy producers including Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH), Santos Ltd (ASX: STO), and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) are charging higher on Friday. This follows a massive rise in oil prices overnight after President Trump suggested that Saudi Arabia and Russia could be about to cut production. The WTI crude oil price jumped 25% during U.S. trade. This was its largest daily gain in history.
NEXTDC shares surge higher.
The NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price rocketed as much as 13% higher this morning after returning from its trading halt. The data centre operator's shares returned from their halt after successfully completing a fully underwritten institutional placement to raise $672 million. These funds will be used partly to develop a new Sydney data centre in order to meet increasing demand.
Best and worst ASX 200 performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 at lunch is the Oil Search share price with a sizeable 11% gain. Investors have been buying its shares after oil prices jumped higher. Going the other way, the worst performer is the JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) share price with an 8% decline. This is despite there being no news out of the retailer. Though, after the market closed on Thursday, rival Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) cancelled its upcoming interim dividend in light of tough market conditions.
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of NEXTDC Limited and Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
