Following weak leads from Wall Street the Australian share market had a disappointing start to the trading day and remained underwater for the rest of the session before closing 0.48 per cent lower. The losses in the big four banks weighed heavily on the index as well as falls in the REITs sector. The best performers were the telcos, led up by some small gains in Telstra.
Today, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 26 points down to finish at 5,516. Over the week the index lost 11 points.
The value of trades was $6 billion on volume of 756 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) and Wesfarmers Limited
(ASX:WES).
On the futures market the SPI is 27 points down.
US marketsLooking at Wall Street, US major indexes have retreated over the four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 0.6 per cent. The S&P 500 Index has lost 0.5 per cent. The NASDAQ has retreated 0.5 per cent. The 100 Index has lost 0.6 per cent.
Company news Star Entertainment Group Limited
(ASX:SGR) has reported a 14.9 per cent increase in net profit to $194.4 million for FY16. Revenue was also up 6 per cent to $2.27 billion. The company has declared a final fully frankd dividend of 7.5 cents per share. Shares in Star Entertainment closed flat at $6.04.
APN News and Media Limited
(ASX:APN) says its turnaround plan is working with stable revenue of $129.1 million and a 7 per cent jump in EBITDA to $35.9 million in its first half results.
National Veterinary Care
(ASX:NVL) is expanding into the New Zealand market with the acquisition of a portfolio of seven clinics in New Zealand.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Telcos adding 0.7 per cent to close at 1,963. The worst performing sector was Industrials, losing 1 per cent to close at 5,406 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Asaleo Care, rising 7.25 per cent to close at $1.48. Shares in Japara Healthcare and APN Outdoor also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Select Harvests, dropping 7.13 per cent to close at $6.25. Shares in BWP Trust and Bellamy’s also closed lower.
IPOsFrontier Digital Ventures Limited
(ASX:FDV) started trading today. The developer of online classified businesses floated with an issue price of $0.50, opened at $0.55 and closed at $0.50.
Commodities and the dollarThe price of gold is trading at $US1,325 an ounce, and is down $15.89 over the week.
Light crude is $0.61 higher at $US47.38 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $0.7637 and is up 0.1 cents over the week.
