The Australian share market closed lower today dragged down by the miners. Concerns over the impact of the floods continue to loom. China’s New Year holiday next week also weighing on the minds of investors, the break will effectively shut down Australia’s main export market.
The S&P/ASX200 Index eased 31 points to close at 4,775 while on the week it was 19 points higher. On the futures market, the SPI is down 23 points.
Looking to the US and on Wall Street, the DOW Jones Industrial Average was up 118 points over the last four trading days. The S&P 500 Index was up 16 points, NASDAQ was up 66 and the 100 Index was up 62.
Company news: Energy Resources of Australia (ASX:ERA) says it will temporarily suspend processing operations at its Ranger mine in the Northern Territory for 12 weeks. It’s a precautionary measure in case of extreme rainfall in the future. ERA also reported an 83 per cent slide in calendar year net profit. Lower production due to wet weather and geotechnical issues as well as lower realised uranium prices and a strong Australian dollar contributed to the fall. Shares in Energy Resources of Australia slipped 12.89 per cent to close at $10.34.
Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW) has appointed Jillian Broadbent and Ralph Waters as non executive directors, effective today. Ms Broadbent is a member of the Board of the Reserve Bank, a Non-Executive Director of ASX Ltd and broadcaster SBS as well as the Chancellor of Wollongong University. Mr Waters is chairman of Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd, Fletcher Building Ltd, a director of the Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd and of Westpac New Zealand. Shares in Woolworths fell 0.74 per cent to close at $26.90.
OceanaGold Corporation (ASX:OGC) can’t explain to the Australian Securities Exchange why its share price took a tumble, although a recent weakening in gold prices may have contributed to the fall.
Cougar Energy Ltd (ASX:CXY) entered a trading halt after the Queensland government shelved the underground coal gasification plant in the state’s southeast.
In the best and worst performers: The best performing sector at close was Telco Services with the index lifting 7 to close at 978. The worst performing sector was Energy, the index dropped 233 points to close at 15,988.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ ASX200 was Alesco Corporation, shares advancing 5.48 per cent to close at $3.27. Shares in Downer EDI and Aquarius Platinum also rose today. The worst performing stock was Energy Resources of Australia, as mentioned earlier. Shares in Sundance Resources and Medusa Mining also dropped today.
In commodities, gold is trading at $US1,312 an ounce and is down $29.85 on the week. Light crude is 7 cents lower at $US85.57 a barrel. The Australian dollar is trading at 99.07 US cents, and is virtually unchanged on the week.
