The Australian share market retreated 1.26 per cent this afternoon closing lower ahead of tomorrow’s interest rate decision announcement from the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The S&P/ASX200 Index today finished 55 points weaker at 4,298. On the futures market, the SPI is currently 54 points lower.
Economic news
House prices edged lower in September. The RP Data-Rismark home price index recorded a 0.2 per cent seasonally adjusted drop in capital city dwelling values for the month, leading to a drop of 3.4 per cent year-on-year to September 30.
Company news Qantas Airways Limited
(ASX:QAN) CEO Alan Joyce said the company’s going to recover its domestic market share and will be setting up business in Asia, despite the two-day fleet grounding that cost the airline $20 million a day. Fair Work Australia terminated all industrial action this morning, and CASA gave the airline approval to resume flights. Shares in Qantas Airways Limited
(ASX:QAN) rose 4.34 per cent today, closing at $1.612.
Despite the Qantas mayhem, travel company Flight Centre Limited
(ASX:FLT) said the grounding won’t affect its results. CEO Graham Turner said the company’s priority has been to work around the clock helping customers switch to alternative airlines, and additional expenses are unlikely to occur. Shares in Flight Centre dropped 0.45 per cent today, closing at $19.88.
Shares in airport investor Australian Infrastructure Fund Limited
(ASX:AIX) rose today after the company told the ASX it didn’t expect Qantas’ troubles to significantly impact its annual revenues.
Lynas Limited
(ASX:LYC) said the first feed of rare earth ore to its Malaysia refinery won’t occur until early during the first quarter of next year due to slight construction delays. It also reported its quarterly cashflow figures today, ending the quarter with $370 million in the bank.
Origin Energy Limted’s
(ASX:QAN) sales revenue rose 4.3 per cent in September from $222.7 million to $232.3 million. It said the results were consistent with the same quarter last year.
And Paladin Energy Limited
(ASX:PDN) CEO John Borshoff has agreed to a 25 per cent salary cut. The company’s quarterly report also revealed its production of 1.24 million pounds of uranium in the September quarter was 15 per cent lower than in the June quarter.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector was utilities, but it lost 3 points to close at 4,377. The worst performing sector was materials, dropping 251 points to close at 11,697.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX200 was Transpacific, shares gained 21.02 per cent to close at 74.5 cents. Shares in Qantas and Virgin also gained.
The worst performers were Cudeco, losing 7.67 per cent to close at $3.13. Shares in Lynas and Gunns also eased today.
Commodities
The price of gold is $US1,715 an ounce and Light crude is down 99 cents at $US92.33 a barrel.
