Dropping at the open, the Australian share market declined throughout the day to end 1.5 down and under the psychological 4,000-point level. Fears over Europe’s unraveling debt crisis saw energy stocks and financials bare the brunt of the sell-off. Over the week stocks have fallen 4.7 per cent, the steepest weekly decline in two months.
Figures
The S&P/ASX200 Index shed 60 points to finish at 3,984. For the week the index fell 193 points. On the futures market the SPI is 46 points lower.
Wall Street, over its three trading days: The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 539 points lower. The S&P 500 Index was 54 points lower. The Nasdaq was 112 points lower. The 100 Index was 87 points lower.
Company news
Shares in Flinders Mines Limited (ASX:FMS) surged more than 60 per cent today after the mineral explorer backed a $554 million takeover bid from Russia's third-largest steel producer. Flinders says the deal would avoid potentially significant development risks associated with bringing its Pilbara iron ore project into production. Shares in Flinders Mines surged 63.64 per cent, closing at $0.27.
Shares in Myer Holdings (ASX:MYR) ended lower after the department store retailer confirmed it expects its annual profit to fall 10 per cent. Shares in rival retailer David Jones Limited (ASX:DJS) continued to fall, one day after announcing an 11.5 per cent drop in first quarter sales and affirming it expects its first half net profit to be up to 20 per cent lower than last year. Shares in Myer Holdings ended 2.56 per cent lower, closing at $2.28.
Best and worst performers
Shares in Regis Resources Limited (ASX:RRL) leapt to the best performer in the top 200 after the gold explorer announced upgrades to its resources and reserves. The company, focussed on the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, has boosted its gold resource estimate to 6.5 million ounces and its gold reserve estimate to 2.9 million ounces.
Shares in Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX:WPL) slumped to one of the performers in the top 200 after the oil and gas producer’s production update disappointed investors. Woodside’s has forecast a 27 per cent increase in barrels of oil equivalent next year, lower than had been expected, as its Pluto liquefied natural gas project comes on stream.
Sectors and stocks
The best performing sectors was Real Estate Investment Trusts adding 1 point to close at 783. The worst performing sector was Energy, dropping 296 points to close at 13,039 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200, was Regis Resources, shares climbed 4.23 per cent to close at $3.20. Shares in Bathurst Resources and FKP Property also finished the week higher.
The worst performing stock was Gunns, shedding 8.33 per cent to close at $0.165. Shares in Intrepid Mines and Woodside Petroleum also closed lower.
Commodities
Gold is trading at $US1,692 an ounce and fell by $30 over the week.
Light crude is $0.33 higher at $US96.50 a barrel.
The Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is buying 97.04 US cents and has lost $0.0294 over the week.
