The Australian share market has finished its first trading day of the week in negative territory closing 0.07 per cent lower despite opening the session in the black. Shares seemed to erode all of their gains in afternoon trade, with the telcos, particularly Telstra the biggest weight on the index.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 4 points lower to finish at 5,348.
The value of trades was $3.9 billion on volume of 593 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Telstra Corporation Limited
(ASX:TLS), Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC) and ANZ Bank
(ASX:ANZ).
On the futures market the SPI is up 4 points.
Company news Bank of Queensland
(ASX:BOQ) has priced $550 million of 3.5 year floating rate notes of its Australian Debt Instrument Program at a margin of 115 basis points over the 3 month Bank Bill Swap rate. The company says there was strong investor interest in the notes with over 42 investors participating in the trade. Shares in Bank of Queensland closed 1.11 per cent higher at $13.70.
Ten Network Holdings Limited
(ASX:TEN) has reported a net loss of $312.2 million for the 12 months to 31 August 2015.
Mobile Embrace Limited
(ASX:MBE) has partnered up with Telenor Group to launch its services in Malaysia.
Stockland Limited
(ASX:SGP) says its on track to deliver underlying earnings per security guidance, following a strong performance across all key business areas in the first quarter.
Aspen Group
(ASX:APZ) has acknowledged an unsolicited off-market takeover offer for Aspen Parks Property Fund by Beeston Accommodation Parks Trust.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector was REITs adding 0.6 per cent to close at 1,296. The worst performing sector was Telcos, losing 1.1 per cent to close at 1,987 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Bluescope Steel, rising 10.57 per cent to close at $4.50. Shares in Oz Minerals and Liquefied Natural Gas also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Arrium, dropping 4.35 per cent to close at 11 cents. Shares in BT Investment and Origin Energy also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,166 an ounce.
Light crude is down 65 cents at $US44.73 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying 72.56 US cents.
