Market Wrap: Aus shares close 1.04% lower

Market Reports

by Carolyn Herbert

It was another disappointing session for the local share market today and a positive GDP read wasn’t enough to pluck the market out of the doldrums. It spent all of the session in the red and ended up closing the day 1.04 per cent lower. The materials and energy sectors proved to be the biggest drag on the market with losses across the board; investors also nervously sold off the big four banks. The healthcare space was the only shining light today, with some small gains in CSL and Cochlear. 
 
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 55 points lower to finish at 5,323. 
 
The value of trades was $4.8 billion on volume of 699 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA, ANZ Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) and BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP)
 
On the futures market the SPI is 56 points down.
 
Economic news

Australia’s economy has had it’s fastest quarterly growth since 2012 according to latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. GDP for the March quarter grew 1.1 per cent, beating economists’ expectations of a 0.8 per cent rise. Growth for the year came in at 3.1 per cent.
 
Company news

Sirtex Medical (ASX:SRX) has provided an update on its second half operating performance for the 2016 financial year. The company says it has continued to achieve very strong growth in the Americas in the second half, where dose sales growth is in the order of 18 to 20 per cent. Dose sales in other regions however, have been adversely affected by a tighter funding environment within several European markets and temporary supply disruptions in some Asian markets. Shares in Sirtex Medical closed 7.17 per cent down at $29.24. 
 
Amcor Limited (ASX:AMC) has completed its acquisition of Alusa, a large flexible packaging business in South America.  
 
Money3 Corporation Limited (ASX:MNY) has secured a $20 million debt facility.
 
Dakota Minerals Ltd (ASX:DKO) has announced its acquisition of a large lithium tenement in Portugal.
 
Best and worst performers

The best performing sector was Healthcare adding 0.1 per cent to close at 21,890. The worst performing sector was Energy, losing 1.8 per cent to close at 8,105 points.
 
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Worley Parsons, rising 4.37 per cent to close at $6.92. Shares in Syrah Resources and Saracen Minerals also closed higher.
 
The worst performing stock was Sirtex Medical, dropping 7.17 per cent to close at $29.24. Shares in Metcash and CYBG also closed lower. 
 
IPOs

GTN Limited (ASX:GTN) started trading today. The advertising platform company listed with an issue price of $1.90, opened at $2.10 and a closed at $2.13.    

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at $US1,216 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.23 lower at $US49.10 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7272.
 

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