The local share market has closed the session deep in the red today weighed down by declines in the miners and following a flat lead from Wall St ahead of the quarterly corporate earnings season in the US.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index is 79 points lower to close at 4,618. And on the futures market, the SPI200 is down 83 points.
In local economic news: House prices in Australian capital cities are expected to rise by between 9 and 20% over the next three years according to the QBE Housing Outlook 2010-2013 survey compiled by BIS Shrapnel. Perth, Adelaide and Sydney are predicted to see the highest growth in house prices, while Melbourne, Darwin and Canberra the lowest.
To company news: Karoon Gas Australia Ltd (ASX:KAR) is reportedly expected to launch an initial public offering of its assets in South America as early as the end of this month. Back in June Karoon said it did not believe that the value of its Brazilian and Peruvian assets was properly reflected in its market cap and was assessing the possibility of a separate stock exchange listing for them. Last month, Karoon said it had taken the first step towards listing these assets by lodging a draft prospectus with regulators in Brazil. Shares in Karoon Gas Australia closed 1.54% higher today at $9.23.
Spotless Group Ltd (ASX:SPT) says it expects to grow revenue and earnings above that achieved in 2010 as the domestic economy continues to improve. CEO Josef Farnik says 2010 was the third year of the company’s turnaround program. Mr Farnik says the company will continue to pursue profitable growth opportunities, supported by a strong balance sheet. In this context, he says, Spotless expects 2011 revenue and earnings will exceed 2010 levels, in the absence of unforeseen events. Shares in Spotless Group closed 2.47% weaker today at $2.37.
Also making news: Terramin Australia Ltd (ASX:TZN) says it expects to make a development decision on its joint venture Tala Hamza lead project in Algeria in early 2011 after receiving encouraging results from a feasibility study.
Telstra Corp (ASX:TLS) has appointed Patrick Eltridge as chief information officer effective from November 22.
ING Industrial Fund (ASX:IIF) has finalised the sale of its 50 per cent owned Summit portfolio for CAN$1.01 billion. And Metcash Ltd (ASX:MTS) has announced the appointment of Fiona Balfour as director effective from the 25th of November.
In the best and worst performers: All sectors closed in the red today, however the sector with the smallest loss was Consumer discretionary, with the index down 15 to 1,541. The sector with the biggest loss was Materials with the index down 286 points to 12,902.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ ASX200 was Nufarm shares closing 4.22% stronger at $3.95. Shares in Crown and Karoon Gas Australia also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Panoramic Resources shares closed 5.41% weaker at $2.80. Shares in Cudeco and Sundance Resources also closed lower today.
In commodities, gold is trading at $1349 US an ounce. And light crude is down $0.61 at $81.60 US a barrel.
