On the first day back from the Easter break, the Australian share market put in a disappointing performance. It posted its worst trading day in three weeks on the back of rising geopolitical tensions over in North Korea, and plunging commodity prices – particularly iron ore.
The local bourse plunged at the open, stayed in the red the whole day, before finishing 0.9% lower. Nearly every sector is in negative territory, with telcos and resources being the worst performers.
At the end of the day, the S&P/ASX 200 index fell 53 points to close at 5,837.
The value of trades was $6.3 billion on volume of 975 million shares. The top three stocks by value were Telstra Corporation Limited
(ASX:TLS), Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) and Commonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA).
On the futures market the SPI is 51 points lower.
Taking a look at Asian markets, the Nikkei is 0.28% higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down 0.85% and the Shanghai Composite is 0.09% lower.
Local economic newsThe Reserve Bank released the minutes of its April meeting. The minutes revealed the RB A’s growing concerns about unemployment, which rose to 5.9% in February, and under-employment remaining high. The RBA also discussed concerns about rising property prices (especially Sydney and Melbourne). The RBA said the Council of Financial Regulators (which includes ASIC, Treasury and APRA) will keep a watch on the market, and “would consider further measures if needed” to maintain financial stability.
Company newsAurizon Holdings
(ASX:AZJ) has cut its annual profit guidance by up to 16% due to the impact of Cyclone Debbie. The coal railway line operator is also expecting to transport up to 21 million tonnes less coal. The cyclone in Queensland caused Aurizon to temporarily close four of its haulage lines. Three of them have now re-opened. The company has slashed its underlying earnings forecast (before interest and tax) by $100 million – and it’s now between $800 million and $850 million for the year ending 30 June 2017. This was due to lost revenue and flood repair costs. Aurizon shares closed 1.51% lower at $5.21.
Tabcorp Holdings
(ASX:TAH) has agreed to sell its Queensland business, Odyssey Gaming Services. However, that is conditional on the ACCC granting approval for Tabcorp to merge with Tatts Group Ltd
(ASX:TTS).
South32
(ASX:S32) has dropped its plans to buy the Metropolitan Colliery and a 16.67% stake in the Port Kembla coal terminal at Wollongong. If the deal went ahead, it would have cost South32 US$200 million, but the miner withdrew because it wasn’t prepared to make significant concessions to address the ACCC’s concerns this deal would substantially lessen competition.
TPG Telecom
(ASX:TPM) has raised $81.5 million from institutional investors in its latest capital raising. It also raised $238 million from executive chairman, David Teoh and his associates, as well as key shareholder, Washington H Soul Pattinson – which takes proceeds to $320 million.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Industrials adding 0.03 per cent (practically flat) to close at 5,369.
The worst performing sector was Telcos, losing 4.28 per cent to close at 1,405 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was NextDC
(ASX:NXT), rising 3.32 per cent to close at $4.05. Shares in Cleanaway Waste
(ASX:CWY) and Asaleo Care
(ASX:AHY) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was TPG Telecom
(ASX:TPM), dropping 15.95 per cent to close at $5.50. Shares in Resolute Mining
(ASX:RSG) and Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,284 an ounce.
Light crude is $0. 38 lower at $US53.22 a barrel.
The Australian dollar has fallen to $US0.756.
