Markets Live: ASX at four-month low

Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting is on the cusp of a full takeover of Atlas Iron through its subsidiary Redstone. This afternoon it advised it now owns 90 per cent of Atlas Iron stock though an off-market offer and "intends to initiate compulsory acquisition", closing at 5pm (Perth time) Friday.

Risk indicators are rising, which is one reason equities are being sold off. The Australian volatility index is up to 15 compared to an average of 12.4 while the Chicago-based volatility index is up to 15.69 compared to an average of 14.

As Cochlear continues to decline on news Bose has invented a hearing aid, you might be wondering 'how can I buy into Bose'. The answer is you can't.

The company is privately owned and the majority holder of the stock is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. How? Well founder Amar Bose donated his Bose stock to MIT, where he was working when he founded Bose Corporation and taught for many years. MIT cannot vote or wield influence on the corporation, but it does receive dividends every year to "advance its education and research mission".

The $685 million takeover of budget accommodation provider Gateway Lifestyle by US giant Hometown is all but complete as acceptances of its offer near 95 per cent. With control of the register hitting 94.88 per cent by Tuesday, Hometown now has the right to compulsorily acquire the remaining stock and take the ASX-listed Gateway private.

The imminent buy-out by the Australian arm of the Chicago-headquartered Hometown comes amid growing interest in the manufactured housing estate model which Gateway operates.

The Hometown takeover is also part of a broader upswell of corporate activity in the property sector with a series of mooted and pending deals, including Canada's Oxford Properties' proposed $3.4 billion takeover of Investa Office Fund.

Nick Lenaghan's full story is here.

Cochlear shares are still falling - down 7.11 per cent to $193.75 at midday from a closing price of $202.38 yesterday. The hearing aid maker is caught in two undertows.

Firstly Bose Corp received FDA approval late last week to sell a hearing aid that can be fitted by patients and controlled with a smartphone. More importantly, it noted "The FDA is in the process of drafting proposed regulations for a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids". Shares in hearing aid makers, like Sonova, have tumbled. The Swiss-listed Sonova lost 11.5 per cent of its value yesterday dropping from 186.15 Franc to 170 Franc.

And the second undertow is the general negativity among Australian health stocks with a very high price to earnings ratio that are being sold off. CSL is down 3.2 per cent today to $191.82, Nanosonics is down 3.6 per cent to $3.42.

The S&P/ASX 200 is heading down towards the 6000 level, shedding 62 points already today to 6038. It is still health heavyweights CSL and Cochlear dragging, but Wesfarmers is also down 1.5 per cent today to $48.58.

Nine companies are at the lowest price for the year:

• Syrah Resources is at $2.02
• AMP Ltd is at $3.01
• Janus Henderson is at $3.01
• Pendal Group at $8.40
• Estia at $2.24
• Nufarm at $5.76
• Invocare dipped as low as $11.31 on opening but has since recovered to $11.50
• Unibail-Rodamco-Westfied at $13.14
• Abacus Property at $3.27

The S&P/ASX 200 is down 24.2 points to 6076.10 with CSL down 0.55 per cent to $196.04 and Cochlear down 3.12 per cent to $196.07. Telstra is also off 1.1 per cent to $3.15. CIMIC Group is down 3.23 per cent to $48.83.

The banks are heading upwards after being sold off yesterday and Fortescue Metals is up nearly 2 per cent to $3.68. NextDC is up 3.7 per cent after resolving a long-running real estate issue yesterday.

In the first few minutes Cochlear has dropped 3.2 per cent down to $195.84 and is dragging on the health index. The S&P/ASX 200 has dropped 4.8 points already to 6095.5.

Meanwhile, Monash IVF Group chief executive managing director, David Morris, has resigned today after less than a year in the role because he was "unable to relocate to Monash IVF Group head office in Melbourne".

The resignation is effective immediately and the board has appointed Michael Knapp, who has been the company's chief financial officer since 2015.

In an announcement that may have parallels with Australia's National Broadband Network, New Zealand's Chorus has commission an independent review of sub-contractors working on the Kiwi's Ultra-fast Broadband network.

"The Labour Inspectorate yesterday indicated early findings of systemic breaches of employment standards amongst small businesses working on behalf of primary contractors to Chorus," it tells the market this morning.

Sundance Energy is producing more oil than expected, with daily oil production at the "high end" of previously released guidance. Sales volumes were about 15,300 barrels per day in September, it told the market this morning.

Third quarter daily production guidance is between 10,000 and 11,000 barrels per day, but it dug nine more wells towards the end of September resulting in more oil. It now expects between 14,000 and 15,000 barrels per day in the final quarter of 2018.

Sundance shares were down 2 per cent yesterday to $0.088.