It has been a disappointing finish to the session for the Australian share market, however the market did make a real come back in afternoon trade after tracking 0.8 per cent lower earlier in the day. At the close, the local bourse finished the session 0.09 per cent lower. The sector that did the bulk of the heavy lifting this session was telcos with Telstra leading the charge. The materials space was hit the hardest with BHP shedding 1.5 per cent/
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 5 points to finish at 5,475.
The value of trades was $4.9 billion on volume of 765 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP), Telstra Corporation Limited
(ASX:TLS) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA).
On the futures market the SPI is 11 points down.
Economic newsConsumer confidence has risen for a third consecutive month according to the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Survey. According to the survey consumer sentiment rose 1.1 per cent in October compared to a 0.3 per cent increase in September.
Company newsThe Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) has announced that its chairman Mr David Turner will retire from the board at the end of December. He will be succeeded as chairman by current non-executive director Ms Catherine Livingstone. Ms Livingstone was formerly Chairman of Telstra and CEO of Cochlear. Shares in Commonwealth Bank closed 0.51 per cent higher at $74.99.
MacMahon Holdings Ltd
(ASX:MAH) has terminated its contract for quarrying at Calabar in Nigeria.
Sandfire Resources NL
(ASX:SFR) has entered an exploration agreement in relation to the Doolgunna Project in the mid-west region of Western Australia.
Lucapa Diamond Company Ltd
(ASX:LOM) has reported that the consortium, of which if it is a member, achieved record diamond production in the September quarter.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Telcos adding 0.72 per cent to close at 1,817. The worst performing sector was Materials, losing 1.06 per cent to close at 9,120 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Greencross, rising 4.43 per cent to close at $6.83. Shares in SCA Property and Tabcorp also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was OzForex, dropping 7.89 per cent to close at $1.75. Shares in Altium and Bapcor also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,257 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.42 lower at $US51.32 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7571.
