Aussie stocks were sold off following Wall Street seeing its worst drop in eight months and the Nasdaq losing 4 per cent. All three majors in the US fell more than 3 per cent. All sectors closed in the red with tech stocks losing the most, Afterpay Touch
(ASX:APT) who fell 11.1 per cent with Wisetech Global
(ASX:WTC) following lower. Energy shed 3.8 per cent with Health Care and Materials helping to lead the major sectors lower. Crude fell for a second session to US$72.50 barrel. At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 166 points lower, or 2.7 per cent lower to finish at 5,884.
Futures marketDow futures are suggesting a fall of 260 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a dip of 25 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a fall of 67 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 3 point fall tomorrow morning.
Company news US giant, Hometown is a step closer to taking over the over 50's residential community company, Gateway Lifestyle Group
(ASX:GTY). It comes as Hometown’s holding exceeded 90 per cent, meaning it will now exercise its right to compulsorily taking over its remaining shares. Shares in Gateway Lifestyle Group
(ASX:GTY) closed 0.4 per cent lower at $2.24.
Wesfarmers
(ASX:WES) has today announced the appointment of Sarah Hunter as Managing Director of Officeworks, Australia's leading retailer and supplier of office products. She succeeds Mark Ward who is retiring from this role and will become a Senior Advisor to Wesfarmers.
Oz Minerals
(ASX:OZL) has shown improvement in copper and nickel recoveries. Together with joint venture partner Cassini Resources
(ASX:CZI), OZ Minerals is conducting a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) of the West Musgrave copper nickel project.
One of Australia’s iron ore majors, Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) announced a $500 million buy-back program to focus on operating performance and new investment. The buyback will kick off after the 25 October for up to 12 months and be funded by its operating cash flows.
Global packaging company, Amcor
(ASX:AMC) held their AGM today showing they are on track to close the Bemis combination, to create a global leading packaging firm in the first quarter of the calendar year 2019. Since announcing its merger with Bemis in August, AMC shares have fallen over 10 per cent.
Best and worst performers The best performing sector was Utilities adding 0.97 per cent while the worst performing sector was Energy, shedding 3.8 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Evolution Mining
(ASX:EVN), rising 6.3 per cent to close at $2.88. Shares in St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) and Saracen Mineral Holdings
(ASX:SAR) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Afterpay Touch Group
(ASX:APT), dropping 11.05 per cent to close at $13.76. Shares in Wistech Global
(ASX:WTC) and Appen
(ASX:APX) followed lower.
Asian marketslower:Japan’s Nikkei has lost 3.9 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 3.8 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 4.3 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,194 an ounce.
Iron ore price is flat at US$71.14. Its futures are pointing to a fall of 0.2 per cent.
Light crude is US$2.31 lower at US$72.50 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 70.70 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesBitcoin has fallen 4.2 per cent to US$6,310, Ethereum has fallen 8.84 per cent to US$206 and EOS has fallen about 8 per cent to US$5.40, in the last 24 hours.
