Following a bit of a topsy-turvy session the local share market has managed to finish the week on a positive note, gaining 0.51 per cent at the close of trade. In the end it was the energy space that was the stand out performer today, with Santos, Woodside and Senex Energy all gaining around 2 per cent. But the shining light in that space was Beach Energy which jumped almost 9 per cent at the end of the day. Not such a good day for consumer discretionaries however, with losses in dairy giants a2 Milk and Bellamy’s.
Today, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 27 points higher to finish at 5,252. Over the week the index gained 16 points.
The value of trades was $5.8 billion on volume of 781 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO), BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA).
On the futures market the SPI is up 29 points.
US Markets
Looking at Wall Street, US major indexes have retreated over the four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 1 per cent. The S&P 500 Index has slipped 0.8 per cent. The NASDAQ has lost 2.1 per cent. The 100 Index has lost 2.5 per cent.
Economic news
The Producer Price Index has fallen 0.2 per cent in the March quarter according to latest figures from The Australian Bureau of Statistics. As this brings inflation for the quarter down to 1.2 per cent, compared to 1.9 per cent for December quarter, many economists are now suggesting a rate cut by the RBA at its May meeting next week may be more likely.
Company news Sirtex Medical Limited
(ASX:SRX) has announced that Health Canada has granted a medical device license for SIR-Spheres for the treatment of patients with advanced non-operable liver cancer in Canada. The company is anticipating the formal launch into Canada will occur in the second half of 2016. Shares in Sirtex closed 0.3 per cent higher at $29.74.
CIMIC Group
(ASX:CIM) company CPB Contractors has been selected by GoldLinQ to design and construct stage 2 of the Gold Coast Light Rail project.
Atlas Iron Limited
(ASX:AGO) has received approval from the Federal Court of Australia regarding a creditors’ scheme.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector was Energy adding 1.5 per cent to close at 8,406. The worst performing sector was Telcos, losing 0.3 per cent to close at 1,974 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Broadspectrum, rising 32.14 per cent to close at $1.48. Shares in Beach Energy and Blackmores also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Mesoblast, dropping 7.2 per cent to close at $2.19. Shares in Whitehaven Coal and Macquarie Group also closed lower.
IPOs Motorcycle Holdings Limited
(ASX:MTO) started trading today. The motorcycle dealership operator floated with an issue price of $2.00, opened at $2.50 and closed at $2.71. Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited
(ASX:RWC) also started trading today. The plumbing products manufacturer floated with an issue price of $2.50, opened at $2.87 and closed at $2.95.
Commodities and the dollar
The price of gold is trading at $US1,273 an ounce, and is up $44.37 over the week.
Light crude is $0.70 higher at $US46.03 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $0.7655 and is down half a cent over the week.
