It has been a uninspiring finish to the trading day for the Australian share market, opening in the red and staying there for the rest of the session, closing the day 0.67 per cent lower. While most sectors finished the day in negative territory, it was the Materials space which proved to be the biggest weight on the index. We also saw selling in the Utilities and Energy sectors. Discretionaries fared the best, followed by Telcos.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 39 points down to finish at 5,723.
The value of trades was $5.1 billion on volume of 709 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 31 points down.
Asian marketsTaking a look at how Asian markets are tracking in afternoon trade. The Nikkei is 0.3 per cent lower, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up 0.06 per cent and the Shanghai Composite is 0.07 per cent lower.
Wall StreetLooking at Wall Street, US major indexes were mixed over the four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 0.12 per cent. The S&P 500 Index has added 0.57 per cent. The NASDAQ has added 1.21 per cent. The 100 Index has added 1.4 per cent.
Company newsTopBetta Limited
(ASX:TBH) came out of a trading halt just after lunch and has announced it has received licenses to operate in the UK. The licences allow the online betting company to launch the retail TopBetta business and its wholesale B2B business The Global Tote into the UK market. Under the licenses the Global Tote will be available to UK bookmakers. Shares in TopBetta closed 9.59 per cent up at $0.40.
Newcrest Mining Limited
(ASX:NCM) will fund an exploration and resource company, Encounter Resources Limited
(ASX:ENR) with up to $500,000 over the next 12 months, to generate opportunities in Western Australia.
Primary Health Care
(ASX:PRY) has confirmed its FY2017 underlying NPTA guidance will be $92 million, which is at the lower end of its previously advised range.
ALS Limited
(ASX:ALQ) has officially announced Raj Naran has taken over the helm as Managing Director and CEO of the company, with effect from yesterday, Thursday 20 July 2017.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Consumer Discretionaries adding 0.39 per cent to close at 2,193. The worst performing sector was Materials, losing 1.35 per cent to close at 9,828 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Western Areas
(ASX:WSA), rising 4.05 per cent to close at $2.31. Shares in Galaxy Resources
(ASX:GXY) and ALS Limited
(ASX:ALQ) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was CSR Limited
(ASX:CSR), dropping 5.5 per cent to close at $3.95. Shares in Perpetual Limited
(ASX:PPT) and Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC) also closed lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,246 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.39 lower at $US46.93 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7907.
