The Australian share market has finished the day in the black, after the market started to pick up steam from about 2.30pm this afternoon. The local bourse tracked in and out of positive territory throughout the session, but ended up closing the day 0.34 per cent higher. The materials space stormed ahead this session with gains of more than 3 per cent in BHP Billiton
(ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO). South32
(ASX:S32) also continued to rally with further gains of around 2.9 per cent. Telcos were responsible for weighing down the index today, with heavyweight Telstra
(ASX:TLS) slipping around 0.8 per cent.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 20 points up to finish at 5,876.
The value of trades was $5.1 billion on volume of 797 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA), BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) and Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC).
On the futures market the SPI is 12 points up.
Company newsCenturia Capital Group
(ASX:CNI) says its wholly owned subsidiary Centuria Property Funds has entered into put and call arrangements to acquire 1231 Sandgate Road, Nundah, Brisbane for $106.25 million. The property comprises a modern, A-grade office building and will be acquired by the Centuria Sandgate Road Fund, a new Centuria single asset unlisted property fund. The building is 100 per cent occupied, with a WALE of 9.3 years. Shares in Centuria closed up 1.32 per cent at $1.15.
Insurance Australia Group
(ASX:IAG) estimates the cost of its total net natural peril claims will be $140 million as a result of Tropical Cyclone Debbie.
TPG Telecom
(ASX:TPM) has successfully bid for two lots of 4G spectrum at the General Spectrum Auction in Singapore this week.
Cromwell Property Group
(ASX:CMW) has made a renewed attempt to take over the Investa Office Fund
(ASX:IOF), which owns some of Australia’s largest office towers.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Materials adding 2.19 per cent to close at 10,007. The worst performing sector was Telcos, losing 0.8 per cent to close at 1,635 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Galaxy Resources
(ASX:GXY), rising 7.23 per cent to close at $0.45. Shares in Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) and Oz Minerals
(ASX:OZL) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Seven West Media
(ASX:SWM), dropping 5.06 per cent to close at $0.75. Shares in Metcash
(ASX:MTS) and G8 Education
(ASX:GEM) also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,255 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.87 up at $US51.13 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7577.
