- ASX200 is 0.28% lower at 6727.3.
- BNPL players slump as RBA hints at future regulations.
- Spacetalk soars 77% on Telstra retail distribution deal.
The tech sector is trading in the red today following the Nasdaq?s turbulent session on Wall Street overnight. Afterpay and Bravura solutions are leading the tech losses, down more than 2% each.
The Australian market is 0.28% lower at 6727.3 just after midday as the energy sector weighs down the key index with Red 5 and Paladin Energy plunging 14.47% and 13.98% respectively.
Australian Retail sales figures for February fell 1.1%, missing market expectations of a 0.6% increase after January?s 0.5% increase. The Australian Bureau of Statistics attribute the decline to restricted trade periods in WA and Victoria due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
Bitcoin is trading at US$57,709.42 at 1:30pm AEDT, down 2.58% in the last 24-hours.
The pandemic winning BNPL sector continues to slump this week after the RBA hinted at possibly regulating the sector in the future. ZipCo, Afterpay and even newcomer Commonwealth Bank are trading in the red today with fears the RBA will prevent BNPL players from banning merchants passing on fees to customers.
In the headlines, wearable tech company Spacetalk is experiencing stratospheric growth today, up 77% in morning trade as investors respond to the announcement that it has signed a deal for Telstra to sell its Adventurer devices in all retail stores and online by April 2021.
And YouTube is launching its ?YouTube Shorts? platform in the US over the coming weeks in a bid to compete with TikTok. The new platform will feature as a tab on YouTube?s current homepage despite missing some vital TikTok features like the ability to collaborate with other users.