It has been a positive end to the session for the Australian share market but not by too much, the local bourse gathered some pace throughout the session then tapered off in afternoon trade before closing 0.2 per cent higher. We saw a big come-back in the financials space today, with CBA closing the day just over 1 per cent higher. Gold stocks were the shining light though, revelling in a jump in the price of the precious metal overnight.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 11 points up to finish at 5,424.
The value of trades was $6.1 billion on volume of 927 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 Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC).
On the futures market the SPI is 3 points up
Economic newsThe latest GDP figures are out and according to the ABS real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 0.5 per cent in the June quarter. This fell slightly short of economists' expectations of a 0.6 per cent increase.
Company newsThe latest port data has shown that iron ore shipments to China through Port Headland Terminal, which is used by Fortescue Metals Group
(ASX:FMG) and BHP Billiton
(ASX:BHP) rose 9 per cent to 35.44 million tonnes for the month of August. This is compared to 32.5 million tonnes in July. Shares in Fortescue Metals closed 3.48 per cent lower at $4.99.
Fairfax Media
(ASX:FXJ) has announced that its NZ business has signed an agreement to merge with New Zealand Media and Entertainment
(ASX:NZM).
Gold mining company, Doray Minerals Ltd
(ASX:DRM), has reported unaudited net profit fell 13% to $16.5 million last financial year.
The OceanaGold Corporation
(ASX:OGC) has announced the results of its Preliminary Economic Assessment on a potential underground operation at its Haile Gold Mine.The company’s gold mine in South Carolina, in the United States, is expected to generate after-tax, undiscounted cash flow of US$861 million from 2019.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Discretionaries adding 0.9 per cent to close at 2,219. The worst performing sector was REITs, losing 2.3 per cent to close at 1,428 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Saracen Minerals, rising 11.48 per cent to close at $1.51. Shares in Estia Health and Northern Star Resources also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Santos, dropping 4.98 per cent to close at $4.20. Shares in Mesoblast and Scentre Group also closed lower.
IPOsKyckr Limited
(ASX:KYK) started trading today. The provision of corporate data company floated with an issue price of $0.20, opened at $0.20 and closed at $0.195.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,352 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.39 higher at $US44.83 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7681.
