Australian stocks lost mild ground today pressured by the banks and energy stocks despite a positive session overnight on Wall Street.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 9 points weaker at 4,532 while on the futures market, the SPI200’s down 26.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank this afternoon increased interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.5% for the second month in a row.
To company news around this afternoon: West Australian Newspapers (ASX:WAN) reported a quarterly net profit that fell 23 per cent compared to a year ago to $22.9 million. CEO Chris Wharton said the trends for the company were strong despite its newspaper The West Australian showing advertising revenue that fell 21% and circulation that declined 5.2%. Shares in West Australian Newspapers gained 2.88% to $7.51.
Westpac (ASX:WBC) said this afternoon it has appealed a New Zealand court decision last month that could result in a NZ$918 million tax bill over structured finance transactions. The appeal will be held late next year. Westpac shares lost 0.63% to $25.43.
Also making news: Boart Longyear (ASX:BLY) has raised $US700 million in a capital raising and reduced its debt by more than 90%.
ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) has become the first bank to pass on the interest rate increase, upping its standard variable mortgage interest rate by 25 basis point to 6.31 per cent as of Monday.
Taking a look at some of the stories covered in our earlier reports: Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) says its iron ore production joint venture with BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) is continuing on track, with both companies saying they expect to formalise the proposal by December 5.
The Australian Agricultural Company (ASX:AAC) has appointed David Farley as Managing Director and CEO and also downgraded its earnings guidance for the second half of the financial year.
In the best and worst performers: One of the best performing sectors at the close was the Utilities index, up 25 points at 4,187. The worst performing by percentage points was the Telecommunications index; which lost 8 points to 1,109.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ ASX200 was Macmahon Holdings as it signed a revised agreement with Leighton Holdings over future joint venture projects and also made it easier for Leighton to increase its stake in Macmahon and shares rose 7.48 per cent to $0.575. Shares in Astro Japan Property Trust and St Barbara also improved.
The worst performing stock was Sundance Resources as shares lost 9.09% to $0.15. Corporate Express and Lynas Corp shares also closed lower today.
In commodities, gold is trading at $1,064.25 U.S an ounce and since this morning light crude is down 3 cents at $78.10 U.S a barrel.
