It has been a lacklustre close for the day for the Australian share market, however a positive end to the week, with the local bourse gaining 292 points over the five trading days.
After opening in the red today, the local bourse continued to lose gains throughout the day, with a drop in the iron ore price weighing down our miners. The likes of Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) lost over 4.4 per cent, while BHP
(ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) shed over 2.2 per cent.
Bucking the theme was Reits with the likes of Abacus Property Group
(ASX:ABP) Charter Hall Long Wale REIT
(ASX:CLW) and Goodman Group
(ASX:GMG) all charging up.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 44 points down, or 0.76 per cent lower to finish at 5,695.
The value of trades was $6.5 billion on volume of 932 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 Macquarie Group Limited
(ASX:MQG).
On the futures market the SPI is 41 points down.
Asian markets Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.57 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is flat and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.46 per cent.
Wall Street Higher for the 4 trading days this week.
Dow Jones added 1.83 per cent, S&P 500 added 1.37 per cent and the Nasdaq gained 1.07 per cent. The 100 index gained 0.93 per cent.
Company news Nine Entertainment Co
(ASX:NEC) has completed the sale of its Willoughby site to a Hong Kong based investor for $134 million. The media company received $22.1 million deposit in the 2016 financial year and cash proceeds today of $125 million. Nine has leased back the Willoughby site until the expected completion of the new premises in North Sydney in 2020. Shares in Nine Entertainment Company
(ASX:NEC) closed flat at $1.48.
CSL Limited
(ASX:CSL) has announced Seqirus, formerly bioCSL has received FDA approval of their influenza vaccine for people five years of age and older, in the U.S.
Mayne Pharma Group Limited
(ASX:MYX) has announced it has added specialty products to its Australian portfolio.
Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) has announced Nev Power will end his term as CEO on 16 February 2018, after being at the helm for seven years.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Reits adding 0.12 per cent to close at 1,335.
The worst performing sector was Materials, shedding 1.88 per cent to close at 10,427 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited
(ASX:DMP), rising 4.72 per cent to close at $43.05. Shares in St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) and Automotive Holdings Group
(ASX:AHG) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was James Hardie Industries Plc
(ASX:JHX), dropping 5.13 per cent to close at $17.20. Shares in Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC) and Independence Group Nl
(ASX:IGO) also closed lower.
CommoditiesGold is trading at $US1,331 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.47 up at $US50.18 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 80.02 US cents.
