Market Wrap: Flat Friday; markets close 0.05% higher

Market Reports

by Carolyn Herbert

It has been an uneventful end to the session for the local share market today; after bouncing in and out of positive territory, the local bourse closed flat or 0.05 per cent higher. There was no real stand out performer today, but a number of different sectors worked to keep the market weighed down including the utilities, healthcare and financials spaces. Gold stocks also had a poor run today after the price of the precious metal dropped slightly overnight.

Today, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 3 points up to finish at 5,231. Over the week the index lost 16 points.

The value of trades was $4 billion on volume of 565 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were BHP Billiton Limited (ASX:BHP), ANZ Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) and Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC).

On the futures market the SPI is down 6 points.

US markets

Looking at Wall Street, US major indexes were mixed over the four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 0.3 per cent. The S&P 500 Index was down 0.2 per cent. The NASDAQ was up 0.3 per cent. The 100 Index was up 0.5 per cent.

Company news

National Veterinary Care Limited (ASX:NVL) has announced the acquisition of United Vets Group, a leading veterinary procurement company. The acquisition which settled on the 8th of July 2016, expands NVL’s capacity to secure a larger share of the $2.4 billion veterinary industry market. United Vets Group currently works with more than 250 vet clinics across Australia. Shares in National Vet Care closed 3.47 per cent higher at $1.34.

Sandfire Resources NL (ASX:SFR) has announced it has achieved record copper production for the 12 months to 30 June 2016.

Watpac Limited (ASX:WTP) has announced it has been awarded a $47 million contract to build an inner-city residential tower in Melbourne.

Best and worst performers

The best performing sector was Staples adding 0.5 per cent to close at 8,221. The worst performing sector was Utilities, losing 0.6 per cent to close at 7,664 points.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Whitehaven Coal, rising 10.16 per cent to close at $1.35 Shares in Bellamy’s and South 32 also closed higher.

The worst performing stock was Regis Resources, dropping 2.76 per cent to close at $3.87. Shares in Primary Healthcare and Tabcorp also closed lower.

Commodities and the dollar

The price of gold is trading at $US1,359 an ounce, and is up $21.88 over the week.
Light crude is $2.29 lower at $US45.14 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $0.7493 and slightly lower over the week.

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