The Australian sharemarket has ended almost half a per cent lower on the last full trading day before the New Year break.
Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 18 points to finish at 4,071. On the futures market, the SPI is down 26 points.
Company news
Media reports are surfacing claiming that anti-mining demonstrators opposed to Arc Exploration Limited’s (ASX:ARX) presence in Indonesia, were lying on the ground when they were shot. That’s according to ABC News’ Indonesia correspondent. Arc Exploration has suspended its search for gold in the region, after three protesters were killed in Saturday’s violent clashes with police. The Sydney based gold miner has been locked in a long dispute with locals and activists who have been calling on the government to revoke the company’s exploration lease. Arc Exploration shares closed 11.11 per cent higher, at $0.01.
OZ Minerals Limited (ASX:OZL) has lost around $US 8 million worth of copper concentrate when a train, on its way to Darwin, derailed due to flooding. Up to 1200 tonnes of the copper concentrate have been lost. OZ Minerals says it doesn’t consider the loss to be financially material. The company intends on starting a new containerised rail transport through Adelaide and Darwin early next year. OZ Minerals shares closed 2.88 per cent lower, at $10.11.
BHP Billiton Limited (ASX:BHP) has reassured investors its transportation of toxic waste on the same train route as the OZ Minerals derailment won’t pose any safety threats. The miner is confident the waste from its Olympic Dam expansion project will be safely transported to Darwin.
Guildford Coal Ltd (ASX:GUF) managing director Michael Avery is set to receive $7 million in bonus shares, subject to shareholder approval. That’s on top of his yearly salary of more than $400,000.
Owen Hegarty, a director of Tigers Realm Coal Limited (ASX:TIG) has purchased half a million shares in the junior explorer.
And Entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten is reportedly considering investing in Air Australia, the airline is currently in a dispute with Flight Centre Limited (ASX:FLT) regarding insolvency insurance. That’s according to The Australian.
Best and worst performers
Telco Services was the best performer, up 3 points to 1,139. The worst performing sector was Materials, losing 89 points, to close at 10,509.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX200 was Linc Energy it rose 3.79 per cent to $1.095, followed by Gindalbie Metals and Sundance Resources.
The worst performing stock was Intrepid Mines, it dropped 6.78 per cent to $1.10, followed by Medusa Mining and Gryphon Minerals.
Commodities
The price of gold is $US1,556 an ounce and Light crude is up $0.19 at $US99.55 a barrel.
