After spending the bulk of today’s trading session in positive territory, the Australian share market made a reverse turn in afternoon trade and ended up closing the day 0.14 per cent lower. The financials space took a turn for the worst in afternoon trade, with all of the big four banks giving up their gains from early in the session. The gold stocks were once again the star performers this session, with the price of the precious metal creeping up once again overnight.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 8 points down to finish at 5,645.
The value of trades was $5.4 billion on volume of 801 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA), Woolworths Limited
(ASX:WOW) and Telstra Corporation Limited
(ASX:TLS).
On the futures market the SPI is 2 points down.
Economic newsDwelling approvals in Australia have fallen for the month of December according to latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In seasonally adjusted terms, dwelling approvals dropped 1.2 per cent for the month, driven by a decline in total house approvals.
Company newsFonterra
(ASX:FSF) says it has raised its Australian farmgate milk price payout to $5.20 per kilo of milk solids, as a result of a decline in milk production. Along with a drop in Australian milk production, Europe and New Zealand have also seen falls. However the dairy products giant says it still expects strong growth for its ingredients business. Shares in Fonterra closed 0.34 per cent down at $5.90.
Tabcorp Holdings Ltd
(ASX:TAH) has announced its net profit after tax has dropped 28.1% to $58.9 million, in the first half of the 2017 financial year.
Downer EDI Limited
(ASX:DOW) has reported a rise in net profit after tax, a jump in EBIT and a rise in total revenue for the half year ending 31 December 2016.
Newly listed brewery, Broo Limited
(ASX:BEE) has announced it will acquire Victoria’s craft beer company, Mildura Brewery.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Materials adding 0.2 per cent to close at 10,334. The worst performing sector was REITs, losing 0.8 per cent to close at 1,323 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Downer EDI
(ASX:DOW) rising 13.12 per cent to close at $7.07. Shares in Western Areas
(ASX:WSA) and Resolute Mining
(ASX:RSG) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Asaleo Care
(ASX:AHY), dropping 5.3 per cent to close at $1.43. Shares in Tabcorp
(ASX:TAH) and Infigen Energy
(ASX:IFN) also closed lower.
IPOsCobalt Blue Holdings Limited
(ASX:COB) started trading today. The cobalt exploration and development company floated with an issue price of $0.20, opened at $0.23 and closed at $0.22.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,216 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.74 higher at $US53.55 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US76.39.
