It has been a positive end to the week for the Australian share market after a horror week of trade; the local bourse jumped at the open and managed to keep its head above water for the remainder of the session and closed 0.33 per cent higher. We saw the financials space bounce back, with gains in all of the big four banks, as well as the big miners BHP and Rio Tinto. Disappointing session however for the energy space as well as gold stocks.
Today, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 17 points up to finish at 5,163. Over the week the index lost 150 points.
The value of trades was $5.8 billion on volume of 1.04 billion shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were St Barbara Limited
(ASX:SBM), Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) and Newcrest Mining Limited
(ASX:NCM).
On the futures market the SPI is up 43 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 0.75 per cent. The S&P 500 Index has shed 0.9 per cent. The NASDAQ has slipped 1 per cent. The 100 Index has lost 0.8 per cent.
Company news Transurban Limited
(ASX:TCL) says it welcomes an announcement from the Brisbane City Council today that it has entered into discussions with Transurban Queensland to assist with its Inner City Bypass Upgrade project. The section of road currently carries more than 100,000 vehicles per day and is a major link in the road network. The council says it is yet to agree or confirm Transurban’s role. Shares in Transurban closed flat at $11.75.
Elders Limited
(ASX:ELD) has announced it will seek to raise $102.4 million through both a share placement and fully underwritten non-renounceable entitlement offer.
Origin Energy Limited
(ASX:ORG) has announced it has entered into a Share Sale Agreement with Energy Developments Pty Limited for the sale of its Cullerin Range Wind Farm.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector was Financials excluding REITs adding 0.9 per cent to close at 6,291. The worst performing sector was Telcos, losing 0.5 per cent to close at 1,969 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Aconex, rising 9.2 per cent to close at $7.00. Shares in CSR and Flexigroup also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was St Barbara, dropping 8.01 per cent to close at $2.87. Shares in Mesoblast and Covermore also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollar
The price of gold is trading at $US1,284 an ounce, and is up $43.62 over the week.
Light crude is $1.19 lower at $US46.74 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $0.7380 and is up 0.1 of a cent over the week.
