The Australian share market closed lower today, down by almost 2% and all indices in the red. Despite a positive annual result from Commonwealth Bank, global economic concerns continued to weigh on investors, with banking and mining stocks fairing the worst.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index is down 85 points to finish at 4,456. And on the futures market, the SPI200 is down 77 points.
In economic news: Released today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported personal finance commitments for June increased 1.2% to $6.896 billion, seasonally adjusted. The Westpac/Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index for August increased 5.4% to 119.2 points, a result above 100 indicating the outlook is more optimistic than pessimistic for the Australian economy.
To company news around this afternoon: SEEK Ltd (ASX:SEK) has announced the acquisition of a 40% interest in Online Career Centre, a Mexican employment website. Seek is an online job classifieds provider and says it will pay US$40 million for the stake and play an active role in driving growth. Director of Corporate Strategy Jason Lenga says the company has continued to look for opportunities to expand internationally, and has funded the most recent purchase from its $250 million bank debt facility. Shares SEEK in closed 3.15% down at $7.39.
CSR Ltd (ASX:CSR) has announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell a residential development site to Stockland (ASX:SGP) for $25.3 million. CSR says it will receive the proceeds from the sale of its 47.2 hectare site, located north of Brisbane, by March of next year. CEO Rob Sindel says the transaction provides an immediate profitable return and is in line with the company’s strategy to monetise its property portfolio. The company has also advised that given the timing of the Federal election, the Foreign Investment Review Board has extended its period of assessment concerning the sale of CSR’s sugar business, Sucrogen, to Singapore-based Wilmar International Ltd. Shares in CSR closed 0.29% down at $1.715.
Also making news: Extract Resources Ltd (ASX:EXT) has announced a new resource upgrade at its Rossing South Project in Africa, and the miner says the latest result establishes the deposit as the sixth largest known uranium resource in the world.
Mortgage and financial services group, Firstfolio Ltd (ASX:FFF) has uplifted its guidance for the 2011 financial year, forecasting an operating EBITDA of between $15-16 million, because of acquisitions made in the last fiscal year.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) has posted annual net profit of $5.66 billion, up 20% from the year before.
Computershare Ltd (ASX:CPU) has reported a 15% increase in net profit to $295 million for the year ending 30 June.
In the best and worst performers: All indices closed in the red today. The sector with the smallest losses at close was the Health Care index, down 3 points at 8,261. The worst performing sector was the Real Estate Investment Trusts index, down 136 points to 4,949.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ ASX200 was SMS Management and Technology shares rose 2.62% to $6.27. Shares in Alumina and Aquila Resources also closed higher. The worst performing stock was Computershare, shares fell 10.6% to close at $8.94. Shares in Sundance Resources and Mincor Resources also closed weaker today.
In commodities, gold is trading at $1198 U.S an ounce, and light crude is down $0.60 at $79.65 U.S a barrel.
