The Australian share market has closed relatively flat today amid global market concerns that the Chinese government may slow the pace of its economic growth. A strong lead in the financial sector managed to offset a weak lead from Wall Street with Commonwealth Bank, National Australian Bank and Westpac all closing higher.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 5 points lower to finish at 4,688. On the futures market, the SPI200 down 2 points.
Australian property firm Goodman Group Ltd (ASX:GMG) has been given access to the books of ING’s Industrial Fund (ASX:IIF) as a consortium led by Goodman undertakes due diligence. Goodman has made a cash offer to purchase all ordinary units in ING for $0.54 per unit. The funds parent ING Management says the offer is below the company’s asset value of $0.57 per share but has agreed to engage with Goodman in order to determine whether an acceptable transaction can be agreed upon. The proposal is subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval and a number of funding arrangements. Goodman is expected to make a final proposal by mid December. Shares in Goodman Group closed 0.81 per cent lower to finish at $0.61.
Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:QAN) has attracted negative media yet again. A Qantas plane en route to Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been forced to return to Sydney after an electrical problem created smoke in the cockpit. This is the fifth incident to have occurred since a mid-air engine explosion took place on a Singapore-bound A380 flight less than two weeks ago. QF17, which departed from Sydney airport this morning with 199 passengers on board, turned back an hour into the flight after the pilot announced there was smoke coming out of an instrument panel. A replacement flight is expected to leave Sydney at 5pm today. Shares in Qantas closed 0.36 per cent lower to close at $2.79.
Transfield Services Ltd’s (ASX:TSE) joint venture Flint Transfield Services has secured a five-year contract extension valued at $998 million to provide asset management services to oil and gas producer Suncor Energy.
The decision to control one of Australia’s biggest construction company Leighton Holdings Ltd (ASX:LEI) is about to heat up as shareholders of the Spanish construction giant ACS are due to meet in Madrid this Friday to vote for the issue of 50 per cent of new shares.
Global miner BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) has pulled out of it $40 billion bid for Potash and launched a share buy-back to return $4.2 billion to its shareholders.
OneSteel Ltd (ASX:OST) has announced it is buying Anglo American’s steel units, Moly-Cop and AltaSteel, for $944 million.
In the best and worst market performers: The best performing sector was Healthcare which closed 64 points higher to 8,492. The worst performing sector was Real Estate Investment Trust with the index falling 9 points to 831. The best performing stock in the S&P/ ASX200 was Cudeco as shares were 8.06 per cent higher to $3.62. Shares in AXA and Brambles also closed higher. The worst performing stock was Commonwealth Property Office Fund, with shares dropping 5.85 per cent to $84.50. Shares in Platinum Australia and St Barbara also closed in the red.
In commodities, gold is trading at $US1,369 an ounce. Light crude is up 19 cents to $85.07.
