Financials continue to slide : Aus shares close 29 points lower

Market Reports

by Rachael Jones

Australian shares closed lower today 29 per cent lower – thats the market's lowest close since April 30. Rio (ASX:RIO) is continuing its slide from yesterday, BHP (ASX:BHP) also continues to fall. Utilities performed the best within the sectors - Financials continued to shed following the selloff of the US banks the night before. The Iron ore price softened as its futures point to a rise of .32 per cent.

At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 28.90 points lower, or 0.48 per cent lower, to finish at 5984.70 points.
The Dow Jones Futures are suggesting a rise of 35 points.
The S&P/ASX 200 Futures are suggesting a fall of 26 points.

The value of trade was $7.6 billion on volume of 906 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Westfield Corporation (ASX:WFD), Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA).

Company news 

Downer EDI (ASX:DOW) announced today it has issued 10 billion yen - that’s approximately AUD120 million equivalent of medium term notes under its existing debt issuance program. The Notes have a 15-year tenor and mature in May 2033. Application has been made for the Notes to be quoted as a wholesale debt listing on the Australian Securities Exchange. Shares in Downer EDI Limited (ASX:DOW) closed 1.00 per cent lower at $6.90.

Mayne Pharma Group (ASX:MYX) is pleased to announce that Mr Frank Condella has accepted an invitation to join the Board of Mayne Pharma Group Limited, effective immediately. The US resident has over 30 years of experience in senior executive roles in the global pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Juniper Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: JNP), a specialty pharmaceutical company based in Boston focused on developing women’s health therapeutics and providing contract development services to clients. Frank has extensive experience with advanced drug delivery technologies, developing and commercialising specialty and generic pharmaceuticals.

Shares in Mayne Pharma Ltd (ASX:MYX) closed 3.36 per cent higher at $0.77.

More headlines 

REA Group (ASX:REA) has received ACCC approval for its planned acquisition of property data services firm Hometrack. The digital real estate advertising company says the purchase will enable its website realestate.com.au to deliver more property data and insights to customers. Shares in REA Group (ASX:REA) closed 3.98 per cent lower at $87.29.

ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) has announced the sale of OnePath Life NZ to New Zealand insurance specialist, Cigna Corp for NZ$700 million. Cigna is global health service company with 95 million customers around the world. The company says the sale includes a 20-year strategic alliance for Cigna to provide insurance solutions to for ANZ bank customers.

Biopharmaceutical company - Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) announced a research collaboration with Osaka University. Under the partnership, Telix will work with the University’s nuclear medicine department on the use of alpha nuclides for cancer therapy.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector was Utilities, which added 1.63 per cent.
The worst-performing sector was Financials, which shed 1.39 per cent.

The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Bellamy'S Australia (ASX:BAL), which rose 5.63 per cent to $16.70. Shares in Seven West Media Ltd (ASX:SWM) and Sthn Cross Media (ASX:SXL) followed higher.

The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Orocobre Limited (ASX:ORE), which fell 5.74 per cent to $5.58. Shares in REA Group (ASX:REA) and Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) followed lower.

Asian markets

Japan’s Nikkei has lost 1.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 1.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 1.3 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at USD $1298.90 an ounce.
Light crude is trading $1.01 lower at USD $66.87 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 75.11 US cents.

Cryptocurrencies 

Bitcoin has trading at $7514 gained 5.3 per cent, Ethereum gained about 9.1 per cent to US$572 and EOS gained 10.4 per cent to $12. 38.






 

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