The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell by another 0.9% today, erasing the gains from earlier this week.
Today we heard from the Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the restrictions are likely to stay in place for another four weeks at least. We also learned that the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 5.2%, but that measure was taken before most of the pain in the second half of March.
Here are some of the highlights on the ASX today:
ASX 200 capital raising
Auto parts business Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP) was another company to announce a capital raising today to ensure its balance sheet remains strong during this period. It's looking to raise $210 million at a share price of just $4.40.
Outside of the ASX 200, film industry software business Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL) announced today that it is raising NZ$65 million at a share price of NZ$1.05 per share. The film industry is one of the most affected during this pandemic because of the restrictions on gatherings.
Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) traffic crashes
Transurban released its March 2020 quarter traffic data update to the market today.
As expected, there was a noticeable decline in average daily traffic in March 2020. The last week of March and first week of April saw Transurban traffic fall by 48% and 47% respectively.
The Transurban share price fell by over 4% in response today.
Casino updates
Both Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) and Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR) gave updates today.
Crown said it was making a payment to employees and that it had applied for the government's jobkeeper payment. It did say that it expects its monthly underlying operating cash costs to reduce by $20 million to $30 million whilst it remains shut.
Crown also announced that it had secured around $1 billion of new funding and that Crown Sydney's completion remains on track.
Meanwhile, Star announced it had secured another $200 million of debt funding from its existing lenders. Star indicated that it has enough liquidity to get through a six-month shutdown. It has also secured a debt waiver for its debt covenants at 30 June 2020.
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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor, Crown Resorts Limited, and Transurban Group. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Vista Group Intl. 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.
