Australian shares have ended the day in the red with falls across the major banks and resources sector.
Bank stocks were dragged down after a White House plan to curb bank risk-taking, rocked financial shares on Wall Street.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index finished 33 points lower at 4,718 while on the futures market, the SPI200’s down 29 points.
To company news around this afternoon:
Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) has announced that it’s found gas at its Noblige 1 exploration well in Western Australia’s Carnarvon Basin. Woodside says that deeper drilling will continue at the site before a full evaluation is made. The data collected will be used to determine the number of hydrocarbon zones. Woodside is seeking enough gas to underpin a second liquefied natural gas processing train at the site. Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) shares fell 0.83% to close at $44.
Shareholders in Cape Lambert Resources (ASX:CFE) have given the green light to the spin-off of the company's Lady Annie copper mine in Queensland into a new vehicle, called Q Copper Australia. The transaction was approved at a general meeting in Perth. Q Copper is expected to list on the Australian stock exchange in coming weeks after its initial public offer closes on February 3. Cape Lambert will retain up to a 15% shareholding in Q Copper. Cape Lambert Resources shares lost 1.79% to finish at 55 cents.
Also making news this afternoon: Macquarie Group’s (ASX:MQG) subsidiaries Macquarie Life and MQ Portfolio Management have been granted an exemption from compliance with the Corporations Act, allowing them to invest in Macquarie shares. The exemptions, granted by the ASIC are subject to certain conditions.
Norton Gold Fields (ASX:NGF) has revised down its full-year gold production forecast for its Paddington mine in Western Australia due to a planned slowdown in development activities.
Taking a look at some of the stories covered in our earlier reports:
Mining products provider Industrea (ASX: IDL) expects second-half profits to recover after a tough first half.
Iron ore miner Atlas Iron (ASX:AGO) announced a 120% increase to the Wodgina DSO Project reserves in WA’s Pilbara region to 20.9 million tonnes at 57.7% iron concentrate.
In the best and worst performers: The majority of sectors closed lower however healthcare and telco services bucked the trend, with the telecommunications sector the best performer, which was up 24 points to 1,174.
The biggest loser was the financials excluding real estate and investment trust, which fell 69 points to 5,500.
Finishing the day as the best performing stock in the S&P/ ASX200 was Sundance Resources, which gained 7.14% to 15 cents. Followed by Cudeco and Ausenco.
The worst performing stock for the day was Macquarie Infrastructure Group, plunging 15.54% to $1.25 following its demerger announced on Friday. Shares in Energy World Corp and Spotless Group also closed lower today.
In commodities, gold is trading slightly higher at US$1,099.35 an ounce and light crude is up 4 cents at $74.58 U.S a barrel.
