It’s been a sour end to the week for the local share market after shares eroded all of their early gains towards the end of the session; the market finished the day in negative territory down 0.16 per cent lower. Once again it was falling commodity prices that were responsible for dragging down the index, with the big miners and energy stocks weighing heavily.
Today, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 8 points down to finish at 5,030.
Over the week the index lost 122 points.
The value of trades was $4.2 billion on volume of 761 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA), BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) and Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC) .
On the futures market the SPI is 11 points down.
Looking at Wall Street, US major indexes have retreated over the four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 1.55 per cent. The S&P 500 Index has lost 1.9 per cent. The NASDAQ has also lost 1.9 per cent. The 100 Index has lost 1.6 per cent.
Company news BC Iron Limited
(ASX:BCI) has advised that due to the ongoing fall in the price of iron ore, the company has temporarily suspended production of Direct Shipping Ore at the Nullagine Joint Venture. The company says it remains in a net cash position and its other iron ore projects, namely Iron Valley and the Buckland mine and port development project in the west Pilbara remain unaffected. Shares in BC Iron closed 23.68 per cent lower at $0.14.
Oz Minerals Limited
(ASX:OZL) has signed a heads of agreement with Toro Energy Limited
(ASX:TOE) to explore for nickel on two tenements near Toro’s 100 per cent owned Lake Maitland uranium deposit.
Newcrest Mining Limited
(ASX:NCM) has signed a deal with Apollo Consolidated Limited
(ASX:AOP) for an option to buy Apollo’s 80 per cent interest Seguela Gold Project.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector was REITs adding 0.4 per cent to close at 1,267. The worst performing sector was Industrials, losing 1 per cent to close at 4,719 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Alumina, rising 4.09 per cent to close at $1.15. Shares in ALS and Ten Network also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Cardno, dropping 8.75 per cent to close at $1.35. Shares in CIMIC and Arrium also closed lower.
IPOs TopBetta Holdings Limited
(ASX:TBH) started trading today. The wagering operator listed with an issue price of $0.20, opened at $0.19 and a closed at $0.19. Kingsland Global
(ASX:KLO) also started trading today, the property developer listed with an issue price of $0.20, opened at $0.21 and closed at $0.23.
Commodities and the dollar
The price of gold is trading at $US1,068 an ounce, and is up $6.31 over the week.
Light crude is $0.58 lower at $US36.58 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying 72.5 US cents and is down 0.7 cents over the week.
