It has been a dismal end to the trading session for the Australian share market today. The local bourse took a nose dive at the open and continued to lurk further into negative territory throughout the session before closing the day 1.1 per cent lower. While most sectors were heavily sold off today, the healthcare space fared the worst and was closely followed by the big four banks.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 62 points down to finish at 5,229.
The value of trades was $5.4 billion on volume of 838 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB), Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) and ANZ Banking Group
(ASX:ANZ).
On the futures market the SPI is 71 points down.
Economic newsBuilding approvals have plunged 8.7 per cent in September according to latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Economists had forecasted a 3 per cent fall. Approvals for private sector apartment blocks and townhouses were down more than 16 per cent.
Company newsHarvey Norman Holdings Limited
(ASX:HVN) has reported a quarterly profit before tax of $115.6 million compared to $91.8 million in the previous corresponding period. Quarterly aggregated sales in the home wares and electronic retailer came in at close to $1.7 billion for the three months to the end of September. Shares in Harvey Norman closed 0.8 per cent lower at $4.93.
Cedar Woods
(ASX:CWP) has reported that its property pre-sales, in the September quarter, was $230 million. The company says this is a 25% increase compared to the same period last year.
Brambles Ltd
(ASX:BXB) has entered a binding agreement to divest its CHEP Aerospace Solutions business for US$130 million.
Eclipx Group Ltd
(ASX:ECX), a vehicle financing and management company, has
reported a cash net profit after tax and amortisation of $55.3 million.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Utilities adding 0.4 per cent to close at 7,143. The worst performing sector was Healthcare, losing 2.1 per cent to close at 19,337 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was CSR, rising 8.61 per cent to close at $3.91. Shares in Resolute Mining and Regis Resources also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Webjet, dropping 11.57 per cent to close at $9.63. Shares in NextDC and Cleanaway Waste also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,293 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.53 lower at $US46.33 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7632.
