As soon as the share market opened this morning, it plunged. Throughout the day, it continued on that downward spiral, even falling below the 5,400 points mark, and ultimately closed 1.53% lower.
After yesterday’s tragedy at the Dreamworld theme park which killed four people, Ardent Leisure’s shares continued to plummet, is indeed today’s worst performer stock.
Wesfarmers shares also dropped significantly due to its Coles supermarkets facing a slow-down in sales growth.
In today’s sea of red, all four big banks are down, and materials emerged as the strongest sector. On the other hand, staples was the sector which dragged down the local bourse the most.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 83 points down to finish at 5,360.
The value of trades was $6.1 billion on volume of 884 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were BHP Billiton
(ASX:BHP), Wesfarmers
(ASX:WES) and Commonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA).
On the futures market the SPI is down 84 points.
Economic newsThe ABS has released better-than-expected September quarter inflation data. The headline consumer price index (CPI) was up 0.7%, which brings the annual rate to 1.3%.
As for core inflation, that has weakened a little in the September quarter – increasing 0.4%, and this means the annual rate is unchanged at 1.7%.
Company newsTox Free Solutions Ltd
(ASX:TOX), which is a waste management business, has signed a deal to acquire Daniels Health Pty Ltd and Daniels Manufacturing Pty Ltd for $186 million. The Daniels companies are in the medical waste collection business, and holds the IP rights to various collector systems such as “Sharpsmart” and “Clinismart” series of clinical waste containers. This transaction represents Tox Free’s expansion into the healthcare sector, and is expected to complete on 1 December. Tox Free is in a trading halt and its shares last traded at $2.49.
IPH Ltd
(ASX:IPH) has acquired the Ella Cheong trademark firms in China and Hong Kong, and will re-brand them as 'Spruson & Ferguson'. The purchase price was $27 million, and this deal will close on 31 October.
Sony Life Insurance Co Ltd has agreed to become a strategic shareholder of ClearView Wealth Ltd
(ASX:CVW), by purchasing a 14.9% stake in the company.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector (or the one with the least losses) was Materials, which lost 0.65 per cent to close at 9,171. The worst performing sector was Staples, losing 3.28 per cent to close at 8,923 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Saracen Minerals, rising 5.08 per cent to close at $1.24. Shares in Resolute Mining and Infigen Energy also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Ardent Leisure, dropping 14.89 per cent to close at $2.00. Shares in Cleanaway Waste and Blackmores also closed lower.
IPOsCFOAM Ltd
(ASX:CFO) started trading today. The company produces an "ultra-high performance" carbon product, and it floated with an issue price of $0.20. CFOAM opened at $0.60 and closed at $0.70.
VEEM Ltd
(ASX:VEE) started trading today as well. The engineering company floated with an issue price of $0.50, opened at $0.60 and closed at $0.61.
CommoditiesGold is trading at $US1,276 an ounce.
Light crude is $1.22 down at $US49.30 per barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7688.
