The Aussie sharemarket closed today almost one per cent lower with all sectors except utilities pulling the local bourse down in what was a strong week.
Today, the S&P/ASX200 Index lost 39 points to close at 4,206. For the week, the index gained 43 points. On the futures market, the SPI is currently down 17 points.
Wall Street
Over its four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 375 points higher. The S&P 500 Index was 48 points higher, Nasdaq was 141 points higher and the 100 Index was 124 points higher.
Economic news
China’s consumer price index rose 6.1 per cent in September from a year earlier, slowing from an annual increase of 6.2 per cent in August.
And In Europe, Standard & Poor's cut Spain's credit rating by one notch to "AA-" from "AA" with a negative outlook, following downgrades to the country's top banks.
Company news
About 7,000 Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN) passengers started their weekend with disrupted flight plans this afternoon, with 17 cancelled flights and another 32 flight delays. Spokeswoman Olivia Wirth said the plight of the airline’s “getting worse, not better,” and that ongoing industrial action by engineers means the airline simply doesn’t have enough man-hours to maintain its fleet. Shares in Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN) closed 0.32 per cent lower today at $1.56.
The offshore division of Leighton Holdings Limited (ASX:LEI) has been awarded another $US79.85 million contract by Iraq’s South Oil Company (SOC), which comes in addition to the $799 million Phase 1 Iraq Crude Oil Export Expansion Project (ICOEEP). Leighton’s offshore chief executive, Peter Cox, said he expects that in less than a decade, Iraq will treble its current oil production. Shares in Leighton Holdings Limited (ASX:LEI) lost 1.79 per cent, closing the week at $20.27.
BHP Billiton Limited (ASX:BHP) is expecting coking coal supplies to dwindle over the coming decades, but says its more bearish about iron ore than coking coal. The chief executive of its ferrous and coal division told the annual World Steel Association conference that iron ore prices are remaining high because BHP can’t produce enough to reach supply demands.
And Rio Tinto’s Limited (ASX:RIO) production figures out this week show its on track to meet its 2011 iron ore targets. Its third quarter production report shows its set new quarterly records for iron ore sales as well as setting records for coking coal production.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector was Utilities, rising 7 points to close at 4,375. The worst performing sector was Materials, dropping 217 points to close at 11,575 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX200 was Virgin Blue, shares gained 6.15 per cent to close at 34.5 cents. Shares in Gunns and Cochlear also finished stronger today.
The worst performing stock was Gindalbie, dropping 8.4 per cent to close at 60 cents. Shares in West Areas and Aquarius Platinum also fell today.
Commodities
Gold is trading at $US1,666 an ounce and rose by $28 over the week. Light crude is up 20 cents to $US84.43 a barrel.
Australian Dollar
The Australian dollar is buying US$1.02 and is up by 4.3 cents on the week.
