It has been a mediocre day of trade for the Australian share market. It was a slippery ride into the red at the open following lacklustre leads from Wall Street on Friday.
The local bourse however managed to erase some of early losses but lost steam again with sellers mounting in afternoon trade, particularly in the Healthcare and Telco space, with the likes of Cochlear
(ASX:COH) and Ansell
(ASX:ANN) and Sonic Healthcare
(ASX:SHL) falling over 1 per cent.
Bucking the trend though was the stand out shiner, the Energy space, after crude oil prices lifted while Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) shares rose about 10.5 per cent after it reported a rise of over 100 per cent in its net profit after tax attributable to members to $388 million in the financial year to 30 June 2017.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 21 points lower or 0.37 per cent lower to finish at 5,726.
The value of trades was $5.4 billion on volume of 722 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 BlueScope Steel
(ASX:BSL).
On the futures market the SPI is 27 points lower.
Asian markets Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.45 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.46 per cent.
To company news Paladin Energy
(ASX:PDN) has advised it will retain the Langer Heinrich mine. It comes as CNNC Overseas Uranium Holding told Paladin it decided not to exercise the potential option that would involve buying Paladin’s 75 per cent in the mine. Shares in Paladin Energy
(ASX:PDN) last traded at 5 cents.
Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) has reported a surge ahead in its results, with its profit attributable to members rising 113 per cent to US$2.1 billion for the financial year ending 30 June 2017.
Brambles
(ASX:BXB) has reported a 69 per cent drop in its profit after tax to US$182.9 million for the 2017 financial year, after seeing write downs of US$436.1 million.
Bluescope Steel
(ASX:BSL) has reported net profit rose 102 per cent to $716 million, for the full year to 30 June 2017.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Energy adding 0.45 per cent to close at 8,922.
The worst performing sector was Telcos, shedding 1.25 per cent to close at 1,364 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Beach Energy Limited
(ASX:BPT), rising 10.48 per cent to close at $0.69. Shares in G8 Education Limited
(ASX:GEM) and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd
(ASX:FMG) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Bluescope Steel Limited
(ASX:BSL), dropping 21.83 per cent to close at $11.03. Shares in Vocus Group Limited
(ASX:VOC) and Galaxy Resources Limited
(ASX:GXY) also closed lower.
To commoditiesGold is trading at $US1,288 an ounce.
Light crude is $1.42 up at $US48.66 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 79.20 US cents.
