It has been the biggest shock to the Aussie share market since Brexit, but Donald Trump is just a whisker away from becoming the next US president. The local bourse started off confident in a Hilary Clinton victory in the first two hours of trade, but dropped like a stone at around 2pm when Donald Trump won Florida. What ensued after that in the last two hours of trade was a significant amount of panic selling, resulting in the ASX200 plummeting 1.93 per cent at the close. While all sectors finished the day deep in the red, the energy space was hit the hardest with the likes of Santos shedding around 7.5 per cent. Gold stocks had their moment of glory this afternoon as investors flooded to the precious metal as a hedge against economic uncertainty.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 101 points down to finish at 5,157.
The value of trades was $8.6 billion on volume of 1.26 billion shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC), BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA).
On the futures market the SPI is 102 points down.
Company newsDecmil Group Limited
(ASX:DCG) says FY17 group revenue is expected to exceed $400 million, compared to $300 million in FY16. The company has also announced that it has secured a $22 million contract with VicRoads for the construction of a section of the Princes Highway duplication. The project is set to commence at the end of this month and be completed in late 2018. Shares in Decmil Group closed 0.5 per cent down at $1.00.
Ardent Leisure
(ASX:AAD) has announced that the Thunder Rapids River ride at its Dreamworld theme park will be demolished.
Webjet Ltd
(ASX:WEB) has entered an agreement to sell its Zuji businesses in Hong Kong and Singapore for $56 million, which is a $26 million gain over the original purchase price.
Australian packaging company, Amcor Ltd
(ASX:AMC), is seeking to expand in China, by purchasing a packaging company, in the northern region of Hebei, for US$28 million.
Best and worst performersThe sector with the least losses was REITs losing 1.1 per cent to close at 1,301. The worst performing sector was Energy, losing 3.8 per cent to close at 7,975 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Saracen Minerals, rising 15.23 per cent to close at $1.40. Shares in Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Beach Energy, dropping 9.55 per cent to close at $0.71. Shares in Galaxy Resources and Orocobre also closed lower.
IPOsElanor Retail Property Fund Limited
(ASX:ERF) started trading today. The property fund manager floated with an issue price of $1.35, opened at $1.35 and closed at $1.35.
CommoditiesGold is trading at $US1,331 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.08 lower at $US44.83 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7596.
