Market Wrap: Aussie shares manage small gain

Market Reports

Market

Well after a promising start to the day, the share market lost steam just after 11am and then slipped into the red. Some last minute bargain hunting saw the index close in positive territory.

This week’s seen the market plagued by disappointing economic news out of the US and ongoing political turmoil in Greece as the nation struggles to get its finances in order.


Figures

The S&P/ASX200 Index gained 6 points to close at 4,485 while for the week it was 77 points lower. On the futures market, the SPI is up 8 points.

Looking to the US and on Wall Street, the DOW Jones Industrial Average was up 10 points over the four trading days this week. The S&P 500 Index was down 3 points, NASDAQ shed 20 and the 100 Index lost 21 points.


Company news

Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) has announced a shock 6 month delay for the first shipment from its Pluto liquefied natural gas project in WA. It’s estimated the delay will result in a $900 million cost blowout – taking Pluto’s total costs to around $14.9 billion. Woodside says the delays were caused by bad weather and slower than expected progress on the commissioning of the onshore LNG plant. The announcement comes less than a month after Peter Coleman took over from Don Voelte as the new chief executive officer.
Shares in Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) closed 3.8 per cent lower at $40.80

Cape Lambert Resources (ASX:CFE) will likely start a sales process this month for its key Sierra Leone iron ore asset. Several industry groups have already expressed interest in the Marampa project. The sales could lead to a $700 million initial public offering in London by October. The new company could be valued at between $500 million and $700 million. Cape Lambert could retain as much as a 25 per cent stake in the IPO. Formal discussions with related parties are set to begin later this month.
Shares in Cape Lambert (ASX:CFE) ended the day 3.75 per cent weaker at 38.5 cents.


Other news

Network Ten’s (ASX:TEN) head of news and public affairs, Jim Carroll, was stood down today. He’s the latest executive to step down since Lachlan Murdoch took over as interim C-E-O earlier this year. Dermot O’Brien will now head-up news at the station.

And the Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) has announced it’s contracted the ATM company – Customers Ltd – to expand its ATM network. The arrangement with Customers takes the redi-ATM network to around 3,800 machines across the nation.


Stocks and sectors

The healthcare sector was the best performing sector today, rising 92 points to close at 8,361. The worst performing sector was the energy sector, dropping 188 points to close at 14,919 points.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX200 was Energy World (ASX:EWC) shares gained just under 8 per cent to close at 54.5 cents. Shares in Elders (ASX:ELD) and Gunns (ASX:GNS) also ended the week higher. 

The worst performing stock was Lynas (ASX:LYC), easing 6.6 per cent to close at $1.84. Shares in Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) and Hastie Group (ASX:HST) also closed lower today.


Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at $US1,527 an ounce and is down $2.64 on the week.

Light crude is down 57 cents at $US94.38 a barrel.

The Australian dollar is trading at 105.29 US cents, which is flat on the week.


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