Daily FNArena News - Australia

The outlook for the Australia Real Estate Investment Trust sector is mixed with brokers upbeat on office assets and US exposure while being cautious about retail centres.

Weekly Update on ASX-listed companies buying in their own stock.

Metcash produced a FY16 result that was largely as expected, with the challenges in the food & grocery segment continuing to divide brokers.

Brokers remain positive on insurance broker Steadfast in the longer term, but see little near term upside.

Increases in scrap prices in April and May have not held up in June, leading some brokers to downplay the outlook for Sims Metal Management.

Rising interest in lithium, coupled with a surge in the iron ore price earlier in the year, has lifted Mineral Resources to new heights forcing several brokers take a cooler approach to the stock.

Nib Holdings has updated on FY16 profit expectations, which are in line with prior forecasts, but brokers remain concerned about the trajectory for margins, for both nib and the sector as a whole.

FNArena’s weekly update on short positions in the Australian share market.

FNArena provides a weekly update of Australian listed corporate bond issues, current pricing and yield data.

Several brokers have questioned whether Telstra can withstand the inroads competition is making into both its traditional fixed line and mobile networks.