On the eve before the Brexit vote Australian investors are carefully managing their positions ahead of either a potential rally or sell off tomorrow afternoon. Our market did very little today and was characterised by low trading volumes. We saw a rally in the big miners BHP and Rio Tinto, but that wasn’t enough to have a real impact on the local bourse, it ended up closing the day just 0.18 per cent higher. Many sectors really struggled for direction today, particularly the financials space with only two out of the big four banks closing higher; being Commonwealth Bank and ANZ.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 10 points up to finish at 5,281.
The value of trades was $4.6 billion on volume of 699 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) and Telstra Corporation Limited
(ASX:TLS).
On the futures market the SPI is 13 points up.
Company newsCenturia Metropolitan REIT
(ASX:CMA) has confirmed that distribution for the three months ended 30 June 2016 will be 4.25 cents per stapled security. The total distribution for the year comes to 17 cents per stapled security which is in line with market guidance. Shares in Centuria Metropolitan REIT closed 0.9 per cent higher at $2.18.
Telstra Corporation Ltd
(ASX:TLS) says that it has completed the sale of its 47.4% stake in Chinese online business, Autohome.
Fortescue Metals Group
(ASX:FMG) will issue another $US 500 million to repay its 2019 Senior Secured Term Loan.
Sims Metal Management Ltd
(ASX:SGM) expects its underlying earnings before interest and tax to be between $55 and $65 million in the second half of this financial year.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Materials adding 1.6 per cent to close at 8,068. The worst performing sector was Consumer Discretionaries, losing 0.25 per cent to close at 2,072 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Whitehaven Coal, rising 10.34 per cent to close at $1.12. Shares in Fortescue Metals and Western Areas also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Platinum Asset Management, dropping 5.49 per cent to close at $6.03. Shares in Seek and Austal also closed lower.
IPOsApplyDirect Limited
(ASX:AD1) started trading today. The search e-recruitment platform floated with an issue price of $0.20, opened at $0.27 and is closed at $0.305.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,268 an ounce.
Light crude is $1.11 lower at $US49.13 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7533.
