Last Orders: ASX edges slightly lower amidst COVID fears

Australian shares appeared to shrug off the latest COVID-19 lockdowns for much of the day, but ultimately closed lower on the day.

The ASX200 finished 0.01 per cent down at 7,307, while the ASX Emerging Companies Index fell 1.22 per cent, closing at 2,131.

Sectors painted a mixed picture with the best being consumer staples (up 1.48 per cent) and health (up 0.92 per cent) while the listed tech sector lost 2.81 per cent.

US stocks closed higher on Friday but since then, NSW and the NT have entered a lockdown with Queensland, WA and Victoria trying to contain smaller outbreaks.

And the tides turned for many companies which were hinging on the vaccine rollout.

Looking at some of Stockhead’s individual stock watch-lists, travel shares mostly got smashed (particularly airlines and travel agents) while some work from home beneficiaries rose including Kogan (ASX:KGN), Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) and RedBubble (ASX:RBL).

The top stock was COVID-19 test kit maker Atomo Diagnostics (ASX:AT1) which had a jointly developed COVID-19 test given Emergency Use Authorisation by the FDA.

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

Education stock Redhill (ASX:RDH) received an increased takeover offer from its peer iCollege (ASX:ICT) at 9.5 ICT shares per Redhill share, up from the initial offer of 6c made in February. This time the pair entered into a term sheet and agreed to do further due diligence.

In gold, Ora Banda (ASX:OBM) announced initial assay results from a drilling program at its Uguana project which aims to upgrade and expand its current mineral resource of 2.72m tonnes at 2.0g/t for 175,000 ounces. The company says the results indicated the company’s development plans were on track.

Ultrasonic probe sterilisation company Nanosonics (ASX:NAN) announced it would launch a new platform which will help monitor and maintain compliance with infection prevention procedures. The product, Nanosonics AuditPro, will initially roll out in the USA and focus on the ultrasound market.

Large-cap wholesale distributor Metcash (ASX:MTS) released its results for the 12 months ended 30 April 2021. It made $14.3 billion in revenues, up 9.9 per cent, and a statutory profit after tax of $239 million.

Maas Group (ASX:MGH) provided a trading update in which it set earnings guidance at between $70 million and $77 million. It has also increased its debt facilities from $160 million to $200 million, and announced $123.7 million worth of strategic property acquisitions.

Speaking of acquisitions, PropTech Group (ASX:PTG), a company which owns real estate agent focused CRM platforms, announced it’s buying real estate listing and contact management platform Eagle Software. The company says will cost $7.5 million, and up its market share from 31 per cent to 38 per cent in the Australasian real estate CRM market.

Dairy farmers co-operative Fonterra (ASX:FSF) has sealed a deal to sell its two joint venture farms in China. The sale is expected to be completed on Wednesday and FSF will receive NZ$88 million in total asset sale proceeds.