Australian stocks closed lower but recovered from session lows in the morning. Gold miners provided support to the market after the price of the precious metal jumped overnight as investors sought safety from the volatility of the last few days.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 9 points lower at 4,430 while on the futures market, the SPI200’s down 3.
The economic news of the day was: the ABS saying that Australia's trade deficit widened to more than $1.5 billion in July as demand for imports continued to rise.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said demand for new cars and trucks fell 5.2 per cent last month.
To company news around this afternoon: Australian grocery wholesaler Metcash (ASX:MTS) has reached a 10 year supply deal with 45 supermarkets and 8 liquor stores, which will increase Metcash’s sales by $250 million in the first year of the agreement. Metcash had its annual general meeting today and said the stores are the supermarkets that Foodworks is buying off Wesfarmers’ Coles business. Metcash shares closed 0.68% lower at $4.35 today.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has listed a number of concerns about Caltex’s (ASX:CTX) proposed acquisition of Mobil’s service stations and has called for submissions in the lead up to its final decision on October 7. The ACCC said it has concerns that competition would be lessened in a fifth of the markets. Caltex said it would continue to work with the commission up until the close of submissions on September 16. Caltex shares closed 1.23% lower at $12.00.
Also making news today: Telstra (ASX:TLS) shares improved after Macquarie Research raised its rating on the stock to neutral from underperform, based on an improved outlook for cashflow. In separate news, Telstra’s internet service was down for over an hour today.
Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) said at a conference today that it is on the hunt for merger and acquisition opportunities and also said it expects to increase uranium processing at its mine in Malawi next year..
Taking a look at some of the stories covered in our earlier reports: Virgin Blue (ASX:VBA) has announced the successful completion of the retail component of its entitlement offer.
Murchison Metals (ASX:MMX) shares jumped as it said exploration work indicates its half-owned Jack Hills iron ore prospect was bigger than expected.
Now to the best and worst performers: The best performing sector at close was the Utilities index, up 55 points to 4,081; while the worst performing sector was the Real Estate Investment Trust index; down 15 points to 846.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ ASX200 was St Barbara and shares jumped 20 per cent to $0.27. Fellow gold miner Sino Gold Mining also jumped and Murchison Metals was the next best performer.
The worst performing stock was Straits Resources and shares fell 13.15 per cent to $1.85. Shares in Transpacific Industries and Fleetwood Corp also lost ground.
In commodities, gold is trading at $977.65 U.S an ounce and light crude is up 31 cents at $68.36 U.S a barrel.
