• The ASX200 is trading 0.24% lower at 7238.40 after lunchtime.
• Playside Studios is surging 7% on a new partnership with One True King.
• Starpharma soars 10.6% after launching VIRALEZE into Vietnam.

The Australian market is following Wall Street’s lead to trade 0.24% lower today at 7238.40 after lunchtime, weighed down by sharp sell-offs for consumer staples and utilities stocks.

Australia’s GDP data out today showed the economy retracted 1.9%, seasonally adjusted, in the September quarter of 2021, the third-largest quarterly fall since 1959. The fall was better than market expectations though as lockdowns plagued the east coast for most of the quarter.

The tech sector is trading less than 1% lower today so far as EML Payments continues to fall, leading losses in the sector by trading 3.33% lower, while Nearmap is down 3.13% and Technology One has shed 2.39%.

Bitcoin is trading 1.02% lower over the last 24-hours at US$56,887.60 at 1:30pm AEDT.

Playside studios is surging 7% today after announcing a new partnership with US-based influencer network, gaming and productions organisation, One True King (OTK) which boasts a combined total reach that exceeds 21 million people globally. The partnership agreement is in the form of a co-developed contract for a new multiplayer PC-based title that is set to be released in Q2 of FY23.

Making headlines, Starpharma shares are soaring 10.6% today so far after announcing the launch of its VIRALEZE Antiviral Nasal Spray into Vietnam. Starpharma revealed it has signed an initial supply contract and received the first order for 100,000 units for distribution in Vietnam, as well as filling its first order for VIRALEZE with the product already arriving in the country ready for launch.

And US-scientists who created the world’s first living robots, say the life form known as ‘xenebots’ can now reproduce in a way not seen in animals and plants.