It has been a lack lustre end to the trading session for the Australian share market today. After falling into the red at the open, the local bourse managed to recoup some of those losses in afternoon trade and close the day just 0.19 per cent lower. The worst performing sectors today were Industrials and Financials and we also saw some selling in Staples and Utilties. Materials lead the charge today, with gains across the board except for the gold stocks which retraced today.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 11 points down to finish at 5,727.
The value of trades was $4.9 billion on volume of 678 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC), Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) and ANZ Banking Group
(ASX:ANZ).
On the futures market the SPI is 1 point lower.
Asian marketsTaking a look at how Asian markets are tracking in afternoon trade. The Nikkei is 0.36 per cent higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up 0.27 per cent and the Shanghai Composite is 0.17 per cent lower.
US marketsLooking at Wall Street, US major indexes have fallen over the four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 1.13 per cent. The S&P 500 Index has lost 1.06 per cent. The NASDAQ has lost 1.09 per cent. The 100 Index has lost 1.08 per cent.
Company newsPolyNovo Limited
(ASX:PNV) has provided the market with an update of its earnings guidance for FY17. The medical device company which specialises in treatments for burns, says it is expecting a loss in the range of $5 million to $5.5 million after tax. While it anticipated sales earlier in the year, it expects sales of its product in the US will start to flow in the near term. Shares in PolyNovo closed 2.27 per cent lower at $0.21.
APN Outdoor Group
(ASX:APO) and oOh!media Limited
(ASX:OML) have announced their proposed merger has been scraped.
Sydney Airport Limited
(ASX:SYD) has reported combined monthly traffic growth of 4.7% compared to the prior corresponding period.
Origin Energy
(ASX:ORG) has entered into an agreement to sell its Darling Downs Pipeline Network in Queensland for $392 million.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Materials adding 1.04 per cent to close at 9,754. The worst performing sector was Industrials, losing 0.86 per cent to close at 5,650 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Sirtex Medical
(ASX:SRX), rising 9.49 per cent to close at $11.77. Shares in Syrah Resources
(ASX:SYR) and Oz Minerals
(ASX:OZL) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Southern Cross Media
(ASX:SXL), dropping 5.43 per cent to close at $1.22. Shares in GUD Holdings
(ASX:GUD) and Northern Star Resources
(ASX:NST) also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,250 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.33 higher at $US49.65 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7438.
