It has been a tumultuous day of trade for the Australian share market. After opening in the black and the local bourse dipped in and out of red territory on the back of Telstra
(ASX:TLS) experiencing a road block in monetising its NBN receipts, while having about dozen companies going ex-dividend today also tolled on our broader market.
However, the ASX 200 managed to hang on by the skin of its teeth and close around breakeven after Wall Street Futures rose, while a basket of local sectors pushed ahead.
Speaking of sectors, over half closed in positive territory, with the likes of Syrah Resources
(ASX:SYR) climbing 9 per cent after the government of Mozambique approved a mining agreement.
No surprises, Telstra dragged down the market and put a cap on gains, after its shares shed over 6 per cent.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.7 points up, or 0.01 per cent higher to finish at 5,670.
The value of trades was $5.5 billion on volume of 805 million shares at the close of trade.
The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA), Telstra
(ASX:TLS) and BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP).
On the futures market the SPI is 12 points up.
Asian markets Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.72 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has climbed 0.94 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.01 per cent.
Local economic newsDwellings approvals rose 0.7 per cent in July 2017, in trend terms and have risen for three months, according the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data.
Meantime, total ‘trend construction work done’ rose 0.6 per cent in the June quarter 2017.
Company news Bluescope Steel
(ASX:BSL) advised that legal proceedings have been issued against of its entity, Toward Industries, in New Zealand by a consortium of small private investors, (NZ Iron Sands Holdings (NZIS)). The proceedings relate to the consortium’s attempt to buy Toward’s Taharoa Iron Sands mining business (NZSM). The consortium clams it lost the opportunity to make profits equating to $886 million from 2017 to 2029. However, Bluescope and its entity, Toward say the claims are unfounded and it will vigorously defend the allegations. Shares in Bluescope Steel
(ASX:BSL) closed 2.91 per cent higher at $10.97.
Telstra
(ASX:TLS) has proposed to monetise a portion of its locked-in reoccurring NBN receipts, but nbn co is not being forthcoming with the data needed so far.
Boral
(ASX:BLD) has reported its net profit after tax bounded ahead in the 2017 financial year, increasing 16 per cent on the 2016 financial year, to $297 million.
Ramsay Health Care
(ASX:RHC) has reported its core net profit after tax (NPAT) rose 12.7 per cent on FY16 to $542.7 million for the 2017 financial year. Despite that, its shares today shed over 5 per cent.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Consumer Staples adding 0.99 per cent to close at 9,430.
The worst performing sector was Telcos, shedding 5.66 per cent to close at 1,268 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Blackmores Limited
(ASX:BKL), rising 11.75 per cent to close at $109.50. Shares in Syrah Resources Limited
(ASX:SYR) and Graincorp Limited
(ASX:GNC) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Limited
(ASX:NEC), dropping 7.93 per cent to close at $1.33. Shares in APN Outdoor Group Limited
(ASX:APO) and Telstra Corporation Limited.
(ASX:TLS) also closed lower.
CommoditiesGold is trading at $US1,309 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.25 lower at $US46.32 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 79.73 US cents.
