The Australian share market finished in the red today in a high volume traded session. Local stocks took a breather from a buoyant week of gains marked by the surprise re-appointment of Kevin Rudd as our new prime minister and easing concerns about America’s stimulus program.
The last trading day of June also signalled the end of the 2013 financial year, a period which has seen the top 200 stocks gain more than 700 points from the beginning of July 2012.
Figures
The S&P/ASX 200 lost 9 points today, chipping in to the weekly gain of 64 points to finish at 4,803.
The value of trades was $7.1 billion on volume of 1 billion shares at the close of trade.
The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA), BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) and National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB).
On the futures market the SPI is 7 points lower.
Wall Street
US stocks have climbed over the four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has surged 266 points, the S&P 500 Index has gained 25 points, the Nasdaq has risen 37 points and the 100 Index has added 17 points.
Fiscal 2013 - ASX All Ordinaries Index best and worst performing stocks
Best performing stocks:
Mineral explorer Sirius Resources NL
(ASX:SIR) Fund manager Magellan Financial Group LLC
(ASX:MFG) Steel producer BlueScope Steel Limited
(ASX:BSL) Child care provider G8 Education Limited
(ASX:GEM)
Worst performing stocks:
Mineral explorer Lachlan Star Limited
(ASX:LSA) Mineral explorer Discovery Metals Limited
(ASX:DML) Exploration company Straits Resources Limited
(ASX:SRQ) Infrastructure investor Australian Infrastructure Fund Limited
(ASX:AIX)
Fiscal 2013 – ASX best and worst performing sectors
The health care sector notched up the biggest gains in the 2013 financial year, surging more than 40 per cent.
The materials sector was the worst performing sector, falling 8.1 per cent in the 12 months to the end of June, 2013.
Health care best performing stocks:
Health care worst performing stocks:
Materials best performing stocks:
Materials worst performing stocks:
Company news
Shares in Woodside Petroleum Limited
(ASX:WPL) rose 0.89 per cent after the oil and gas producer extended its global exploration strategy and announced it is heading to the Porcupine Basin off Ireland.
Shares in Kingsgate Consolidated Limited
(ASX:KCN) sank 6.99 per cent after the gold mining company revealed a $300 million write down against its Challenger gold mine in South Australia, having bought the mine for $376 million.
Shares in Caltex Australia Limited
(ASX:CTX) plunged 11.82 per cent after the oil refiner cut its first half profit expectations, citing a falling Australian dollar and recent pipeline outage.
Shares in Patties Foods Limited
(ASX:PFL) dropped 5.72 per cent after the pie maker downgraded its annual earnings forecast, blaming soft market conditions and costs of new pie packing equipment.
Today’s best and worst performers
The best performing sector was real estate investment trusts, adding 10 points to close at 1,030.
The worst performing sector was utilities, losing 55 points to close at 5,274 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Discovery Metals Limited
(ASX:DML), rising 12.5 per cent to close at $0.14. Shares in Emeco Holdings Limited
(ASX:EHL) and Paladin Energy Limited
(ASX:PDN) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Caltex Australia Limited
(ASX:CTX), dropping 11.82 per cent to close at $18.05. Shares in CuDeco Limited
(ASX:CDU) and Billabong International Limited
(ASX:BBG) also closed lower.
Commodities
The price of gold is sitting at $US1,207 an ounce and has pulled back $89.20 over a week in which the price also slipped below $US1,200 an ounce for the first time in almost three years, having now lost about 30 per cent since the beginning of 2013.
The price of light crude is $0.36 higher at $US97.41 a barrel.
The Australian dollar The Australian dollar is buying 92.8 US cents and has put on $0.003 over the week, amid predictions from National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB) the Aussie will fall to 83 US cents by the end of 2014 and ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) interest rate decision next week.
