The S&P / ASX 200 is trading flat in lunchtime trade today as it continues to steady after a disastrous October that saw it lose around 10% of its value as the US led a global markets crash. Today though there are several well known companies getting bid higher by investors for differing reasons. So let's take a look at what might be behind the price moves.
The Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is up 4% to $13.47 today and up 18% over the past week despite the digital credit provider releasing no specific news to the market. The share price is climbing in line with the tech-heavy NASDAQ index in North America as investors gain more confidence a tech crash isn't round the corner. AfterPay is currently working on expanding into the US and UK consumer credit markets.
The Orocobre Ltd (ASX: ORE) share price is climbing again today after the lithium miner with operations in Argentina posted a stronger-than-expected operating update yesterday. For the quarter ending September 30 2018 it sold 2,144 tonnes of lithium carbonate to bring in sales revenue of US$32 million. It achieved an average realised price of US$14,699 per tonne for the lithium versus average costs of US$4,640 per tonne.
The Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) share price is up 3.4% to $121.86 today after the investment bank reported a 5% lift in its first half net profit to $1,310 million. Its capital markets facing businesses nearly doubled their profit contribution on the prior half as merger and acquisition activity and trading fees improved over a period that saw more volatility in markets. The group will pay an interim dividend of $2.15 per share on earnings per share of $3.88. The interim dividend is up 4.6% on the prior corresponding half. The stock is probably rising as the group also updated the market to expect full year profit to be up around 10% on FY 2018.
The Catapult Group Ltd (ASX: CAT) share price is up 4% to $1.10. Although the sports analytics and data services provider released no news to the market today it recently told investors to expect underlying core EBITDA between $11 million and $13 million in FY 2019. This would represent growth between 37% and 63% on the prior year.
