Closing Bell: ASX finishes flat

Despite a solid start to the day the ASX closed Monday at the same point it closed on Friday.

After gaining as much as 0.3% by 11am the ASX 200 closed flat at 7,538 points. The ASX Emerging Companies Index finished slightly higher, by 0.03% at 2,252.

The best sectors were property trusts and financials which gained 1.3% with the latter being boosted an 8% post-earnings surge from Suncorp (ASX:SUN). Meanwhile the worst sector was resources which lost 1.06%.

While some Asian markets including Singapore and Tokyo were on holidays, markets in Hong Kong and Shenzen went higher today, following Wall Street on Friday.

In spite of the retreats of gold and oil as well as the latest COVID-19 restrictions in Australia and China, markets were buoyed by the latest jobs data in the US that exceeded forecasts and the US Senate coming closer to passing a US$1 trillion infrastructure package.

TODAY’S BIGGEST WINNERS

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

Stocks highlighted in yellow rose after making announcements during intraday trade.

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
CLZ	Classic Min Ltd	0.002	100	20210024
WOO	Wooboard Tech Ltd	0.002	100	12638873
AXP	AXP Energy Ltd	0.007	56	385437065
BLG	Bluglass Limited	0.042	45	22846003
HUO	Huon Aquaculture Grp	3.9	40	10312047
PCL	Pancontinental Oil	0.002	33	4593513
KLR	Kaili Resources Ltd	0.029	32	191500
ADV	Ardiden Ltd	0.014	27	61351669
MCM	Mc Mining Ltd	0.15	25	48147
VIC	Victory Mines Ltd	0.0025	25	183333
VRC	Volt Resources Ltd	0.031	24	21255057
BCB	Bowen Coal Limited	0.12	24	3476818
HWK	Hawkstone Mng Ltd	0.042	24	87295877
IKW	Ikwezi Mining Ltd	0.355	22	24511
FYI	FYI Resources Ltd	0.77	22	5615966
FZO	Family Zone Cyber	0.69	17	20436884
RLC	Reedy Lagoon Corp.	0.021	17	19992856
VR1	Vection Technologies	0.105	17	8785295
KNM	Kneomedia Limited	0.007	17	3027416
NZS	New Zealand Coastal	0.014	17	592725
RTE	Retech Tech Co., Ltd	0.29	16	169733
SRJ	SRJ Technologies	0.335	16	59000
LEL	Lithenergy	0.75	15	3010107

AXP Energy (ASX:AXP) rose after a revenue update, making another $1.8 million in revenue in the month of July.

BluGlass (ASX:BLG) rose after the latest version of its laser diode technology passed a proof of concept phase.

Cyber safety platform Family Zone Cyber Safety (ASX:FZO) completed a $114 million capital raising to help it acquire Smoothwall – the UK’s leading provider of K-12 digital safety solutions.

In resources, Lithium Energy (ASX:LEL) was one winner after revealing to shareholders it was closer to exploration.

TODAY’S BIGGEST LOSERS

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

Stocks highlighted in yellow fell after making announcements during intraday trade.

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
ARO	Astro Resources NL	0.004	-20	989010
BAS	Bass Oil Ltd	0.002	-20	251684
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.002	-20	7631398
GLE	GLG Corp Ltd	0.285	-19	14296
NAG	Nagambie Resources	0.065	-17	584012
S2R	S2 Resources	0.135	-16	1825623
AUH	Austchina Holdings	0.006	-14	23410066
DDT	DataDot Technology	0.006	-14	298216
ONX	Orminexltd	0.037	-14	2436340
GNM	Great Northern	0.01	-13	1622095
BMN	Bannerman Energy Ltd	0.135	-13	10455876
GMR	Golden Rim Resources	0.007	-13	7802157
8CO	8Common Limited	0.185	-12	927474
ATR	Astron Corp Ltd	0.37	-12	7699
AGG	AngloGold Ashanti	4.75	-11	131930
TZN	Terramin Australia	0.04	-11	263720
AFW	Applyflow Limited	0.008	-11	21665632
AVW	Avira Resources Ltd	0.004	-11	81250
BNR	Bulletin Res Ltd	0.058	-11	150433
OKR	Okapi Resources	0.465	-11	939367
NME	Nex Metals Explorat	0.034	-11	635235
SHM	Shriro Holdings Ltd	0.945	-10	1503814

Textiles company GLG (ASX:GLE) fell after announcing executive changes.

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

$2.4 billion fintech lender Latitude Financial (ASX:LFS) is forking out $200 million to acquire fellow fintech Symple. Symple will become the lending platform for all Latitude’s personal and auto loans and will account for 160,000 customers and a $2.5 billion loan portfolio.

Jadar Resources (ASX:JDR) signed a term sheet to buy a portfolio of projects in the Northern Territory prospective for several commodities, particularly tin and copper. It will pay $6.5 million in cash for the package which includes 32 mining leases totalling over 300 hectares.

Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) kicked off another clinical trial in Israel against Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. It has just dosed the first patient with its Zantrene drug and will run in parallel with a separate trial in Australia.

Westpac (ASX:WBC) sold its life insurance business to TAL in a deal that marks its exit from the sector. The deal will reap $900 million up front and other ongoing payments which will add 12 basis points to Westpac’s Level 2 common equity Tier 1 capital ratio.

In light of the lockdown in Cairns, Reef Casino (ASX:RCT) has been forced to close the doors of its casinos for 3 days. However its hotel accomodation was exempt, allowed to remain open for essential travel.