Another disappointing session for the Australian share market today on the back of weak leads from Wall Street. The local bourse plunged at the open, but managed to regain some of that momentum in afternoon trade and closed 0.58 per cent lower. The big four banks once again proved to be the biggest drag on the market, with ANZ leading the losses down 1.9 per cent. Energy stocks also took a beating after the price of Brent crude dropped 4 per cent. Gold and silver were the star performers this session, with the prices of both precious metals jumping overnight.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 31 points down to finish at 5,198.
The value of trades was $5.3 billion on volume of 766 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 Limited
(ASX:BHP).
On the futures market the SPI is 41 points down.
Company newsRubik Financial Limited
(ASX:RFL) has announced that it has signed an agreement with Bank Alfalah, one of the leading banks in Pakistan, to implement its collections platform CWX. The agreement brings the total to 5 out of 7 banks in Pakistan using CWX. The company also partners with leading banks both in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Shares in Rubik Financial Limited closed 10 per cent higher at $0.11.
Chalice Gold Mines Ltd
(ASX:CHN) has entered a contract to sell its 51% stake in the Ardeen Gold Project, located in Ontario, Canada.
Downer EDI Limited
(ASX:DOW) has signed a 2-year contract extension to provide mining services at the Meandu Mine in QLD.
Fantastic Holdings Ltd
(ASX:FAN) will be closing down its ‘Le Cornu’ store in South Australia in the next 6 months.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Telcos adding 0.6 per cent to close at 2,044. The worst performing sector was Energy, losing 1.8 per cent to close at 8,126 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Covermore, rising 11.29 per cent to close at $1.38. Shares in Evolution Mining and Regis Resources also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Mesoblast, dropping 6.2 per cent to close at $1.14. Shares in CYBG and Magellan also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,369 an ounce.
Light crude is $2.39 lower at $US46.60 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7433.
