The Australian share market bounced back from selling territory this morning, with the local bourse clawing back its early losses after the majority of the sectors pushed higher and closed with gains.
The property sector led the recovery, followed by Healthcare and Telcos. While Financials, Industrials and the Discretionary space lagged.
The likes of QBE
(ASX:QBE) lost 1.1 per cent, while Westpac
(ASX:WBC) fell the least, compared to the other three major banks.
In the Industrials space, Virgin Australia
(ASX:VAH) lost 5.6 per cent after the Government green lighted Qantas
(ASX:QAN) Asian Jetstar services to continue to collaborate.
In the Materials space, Kidman Resources
(ASX:KDR) gained 4 per cent while Orocobre
(ASX:ORE) gained about 1.5 per cent.
Out of the big miners, RIO
(ASX:RIO) and BHP
(ASX:BHP) only saw minor gains.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 4 points or 0.06 per cent down to finish at 5,983.
Over the week we however gained 25 points.
The value of trades was $5.4 billion on volume of 575 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 CSL
(ASX:CSL).
On the futures market the SPI is 3 points down.
Company news Annuity specialist, Challenger
(ASX:CGF) has issued $400 million of subordinated notes to qualify as Tier 2 APRA prudential standard capital. The proceeds will be used to pay down the company’s debt on 30 November 2017. The notes will be paid at a margin of 210 basis points above the 3 month bank bill swap rate. Shares in Challenger closed about 0.2 per cent higher to $13.74
Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) and Sinosteel have extended their Channar mining JV which will see the Chinese company pay Rio an upfront US$15 million as well as production royalties linked to the iron ore price. The extention will also add an additional 10 million tonnes of iron ore from Western Australia.
And Qantas’
(ASX:QAN) three Asian Jetstar brands have been given a green light by the government to coordinate the services of Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Pacific and Jetstar Japan for a further 5 years.
And lithium miner Orocobre
(ASX:ORE) says it will unveil a new product stream for its lithium carbonate and mitigate risk as battery technology develops. A decision on this will be unveiled in the early first half of FY18.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Reits adding 0.6 per cent higher to 1,399 points.
The worst performing sector was Industrials, closing 0.42 per cent lower to 6,017 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN), rising 7.89 per cent higher to $20.23. Shares in Aconex Limited (ASX: ACX) and Japara Healthcare Limited (ASX: JHC) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited (ASX: RWC), closing 4.57 per cent lower to $3.97. Shares in Link Administration Holdings Limited (ASX: LNK) and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) also closed lower.
Asian marketsAre are mixed: Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.15 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.5 per cent.
Wall Street Wrapped up the three trading days this week, higher, while it was closed yesterday for thanksgiving.
The Dow Jones added 0.7 per cent, The S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent and the tech heavy Nasdaq gained 1.2 per cent, while the 100 index rose 1.1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,292 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.54 up at $US58.56 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 76.25 US cents.
