The last day of the week and quarter saw choppy trade on light volumes. Equities started higher, slipped into the red by afternoon but clawed back to close the day out where they started, just above the psychological 4,000 index level.
The S&P/ASX200 Index added 0.3 points to close at 4,009. For the week, the index gained 105 points.
On the futures market, the SPI is currently 7 points lower.
Wall Street, over the four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 383 points higher. The S&P 500 Index was 24 points higher, the Nasdaq was 2 points lower and the 100 Index slipped 9 points.
Chinese economic news
China’s manufacturing activity was down this month, capping off three straight months of contraction. The HSBC purchasing managers' index came in at 49.9 in September, in line with the month before and up from 49.3 in July. A read below 50 indicates contraction, while a read more than 50 indicates expansion.
Australian economic news
The values of homes in capital cities extended their decline last month, albeit posting the smallest fall in five months. According to RP Data-Rismark capital cities home values fell a seasonally-adjusted 0.4 per cent in August, taking the total fall over the last year to 3.2 per cent.
Company news
One of the best performers of the day was Anvil Mining Limited (ASX:AVM). Shares in the Africa focused copper miner climbed more than 30 per cent after backing a $1.3 billion friendly bid from China’s Minmetals Resources. The offer comes at a 39 per cent premium to Anvil's last closing price and will open within three weeks. Shares in Anvil Mining closed the day 31.9 per cent higher at $7.65.
One of the worst performers of the day was breads and spreads producer Goodman Fielder Limited (ASX:GFF). The company’s shares slumped after it completed the institutional component of its $259 million equity raising. Goodman had planned the raising as part of a potential restructure, but it wasn’t enough to impress investors or analysts. Analysts at Bank of America and Nomura have downgraded the stock. Shares in Goodman Fielder slumped 12.54 per cent today, closing at $0.48.
Grocery wholesaler Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) has completed its $215 million acquisition of Franklins supermarkets. Despite objections from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Metcash will take control of the supermarkets, ahead of the ACCC’s appeal to be heard next month.
Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) has told the ASX that demand for iron ore is strong. The Pilbara-focussed iron ore miner says it achieved the highest ever quarterly shipments in the three months to the end of September. Fortescue also advised its expansion program is on time and on budget.
Best and worst sectors and stocks
The best performing sector was Energy, rising 149 points to close at 12,479. The worst performing sector was Health Care, falling 79 points to close at 7,604 points. The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX200 was Sundance Resources, shares gained 4.88 per cent to close at $0.43. Shares in Boral and Aquarius Platinum also finished stronger today. The worst performing stock was Gunns, dropping 16.67 per cent to close at $0.15. Shares in Goodman Fielder and Transpacific Industries Group also fell today.
Commodities
Gold is trading at $US1,625 an ounce, and fell by $29.00 over the week.
Light crude is up $0.62 cents to $US82.76 a barrel.
The Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is buying 97.64 US cents and is slightly down on the week.
