It was a bit of a lack lustre end to the day’s trade for the Australian share market after it looked so bullish at the open. At the end of the session the local bourse ran out of puff and ended up closing the day 0.18 per cent higher. Today it was the energy space that was the star performer led by gains in Santos and Woodside. The materials and financials sectors struggled for direction and closed the day mixed.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 10 points up to finish at 5,476.
The value of trades was $4.7 billion on volume of 702 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA), BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP), Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC).
On the futures market the SPI is up 15 points.
Company newsALE Property Group
(ASX:LEP) has released its full year results for FY2016. The pub owner reported a distributable profit of $29.6 million and property revenue of $56.2 million which was a $1 million increase on the previous corresponding period. Property valuations also increased by 10 per cent to $990.5 million. Shares in ALE Property Group closed flat at $4.32.
Tabcorp Holdings Ltd’s
(ASX:TAH) net profit fell by 49.3% to $169.7 million for the full-year ended 30 June 2016.
BWP Trust
(ASX:BWP), the largest owners of Bunnings Warehouse stores in Australia, have announced a net profit of $310.5 million, up from $210.1 million the previous year.
Metals X Ltd
(ASX:MLX) has announced that it has completed an equity raising of $100.6 million – to domestic and institutional investors.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Energy adding 2 per cent to close at 8,298. The worst performing sector was Healthcare, losing 1.2 per cent to close at 22,137 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Bellamy’s, rising 7.88 per cent to close at $13.42. Shares in Downer EDI and Santos also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Saracen, dropping 3.23 per cent to close at $1.79. Shares in St Barbara and Japara Healthcare also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,352 an ounce.
Light crude is $1.32 higher at $US40.83 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7603.
