It has been a positive end to the trading week for the Australian share market, closing this Friday session on a positive note or 1.08 per cent higher. Most sectors were back in the black today with the Consumer Discretionary space leading the charge. Not such a good day however for the materials space, with the gold miners feeling the strain after a small decline in the gold price overnight.
Today, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 57 points up to finish at 5,297.
Over the week the index lost 43 points.
The value of trades was $6.1 billion on volume of 923 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA), Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC) and National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB).
On the futures market the SPI is 51 points up.
US marketsLooking at Wall Street, US major indexes have risen over the four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has added 0.7 per cent. The S&P 500 Index has added 0.9 per cent. The NASDAQ has gained 2.4 per cent. The 100 Index has added 2.9 per cent.
Company newsTopBetta Holdings Limited
(ASX:TBH) has announced it has been granted an e-gambling licence on the British Channel Islands in Alderney. The licence allows TopBetta to offer its products to international corporate bookmakers.
Shares in TopBetta closed 3.33 per cent up at $0.15.
Estia Health Limited
(ASX:EHE) has announced it has appointed current non-executive director Noah Barlow as acting CEO.
JB Hi-Fi Limited
(ASX:JBH) has announced it has completed the institutional component of its fully underwritten $259 million entitlement offer.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Consumer Discretionaries adding 2.3 per cent to close at 2,210 The worst performing sector was Materials, losing 0.1 per cent to close at 8,521 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Blackmores, rising 9.01 per cent to close at $128.93. Shares in Whitehaven Coal and Mantra also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Saracen Minerals, dropping 6.4 per cent to close at $1.39. Shares in Mesoblast and Worley Parsons also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollarThe price of gold is trading at $US1,315 an ounce, and is down $15.30 over the week.
Light crude is $0.37 higher at $US44.52 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $0.7508 and is down 0.3 cent over the week.
