The Australian share market has taken a battering today closing the session weaker as news of debt problems in Dubai caused investors to dump riskier assets.
According to The Australian ANZ says it has no material exposure to Dubai World and Macquarie Group says it has negligible exposure to Dubai World and other Dubai-based organisations.
However engineering and infrastructure company Leighton Holdings says it is still owed money on a few building projects in Dubai but that it is confident of recovering the money.
Today the S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 137 points lower at 4,572 and is down 114 points on week. On the futures, the SPI200’s down 122 points.
Looking to the U.S. and on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial index rose 146 points on the short trading week this week. The S&P500 Index gained 19, the NASDAQ added 30 points and the 100 index advanced 29 points.
To company news around this afternoon: Grocery wholesaler Metcash Ltd (ASX:MTS) hopes to become champion of the independent hardware retailer after today launching a takeover bid for Mitre 10. The company says it has submitted a board approved conditional proposal to subscribe for an initial 50.1% stake in the Mitre 10 group with the potential for the company to acquire 100% of the Mitre 10 group in either 2012 or 2013. CEO Andrew Reitzer says recent developments in the hardware sector have materially changed the landscape and outlook for independent operators, saying that its success in the competitive food and liquor sector will enable retail customers of a Metcash backed Mitre 10 to compete more effectively in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Shares in Metcash closed 1.51 per cent lower at $4.56.
Chairman of coal miner Centennial Coal Company Ltd (ASX:CEY) Kenneth Moss says the company expects a stronger second half of the 2010 financial year as its Airly and Mandalong mines enter the export market. Mr Moss says the recent strong upward movement in spot prices should also translate into new higher contract prices that will benefit second-half earnings. He says the company continues to see a growing strength in demand for thermal export coal and while export spot and contract thermal prices have fallen from their 2008 high, they remain at the second highest on record. Shares in Centennial Coal closed 3.58 per cent weaker at $3.23.
Also making news today: Mineral explorer FerrAus Ltd (ASX:FRS) says its $12.6 million deal with China Railway Materials Corporation has been given the tick of approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board giving the Chinese company a 12% stake in FerrAus.
And Macmahon Holdings Ltd (ASX:MAH) says it is confident of achieving profit after tax of $34 million for fiscal 2010, which is double its 2009 profit result of $17 million.
Now to the best and worst performers: All sectors closed in the red today, however the sector with the smallest loss at close was the Telco Services index down 7 points at 1,155; while the sector at close with the biggest loss was the Financials Excluding Real Estate Investment Trust index; down 193 points at 5,184.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX200 was IOOF Holdings shares rose 1.99% to $5.65. Shares in Infigen Energy and Macmahon Holdings also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Energy World Corp, shares fell 12.36% to $0.39. Shares in Eastern Star Gas and PanAust also closed lower today.
The Aussie dollar is currently buying 90.33 U.S cents and is down over a cent on the week. Gold is trading at $1186.05 U.S an ounce and is up $36.50 on the week.
Finally, oil is down $2.29 at $75.67 U.S a barrel.
