The Australian share market dipped in afternoon trade to close 0.3 per cent down, weighed by energy and mining stocks, with investors cautious ahead of the outcome of the US Fed’s two day meeting. The Aussie dollar is up around the day’s high after spending the day in a tight range, while gold hit a six week low today on Fed bond buying speculation, contributing to a 23 per cent decline so far this year.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 13 points down to finish at 5,238. The value of trades was $4.5 billion on volume of 769 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP), National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA).
On the futures market the SPI is 16 points down.
Economic news
The Westpac Melbourne Institute Leading Index was 4.1 per cent in July, above its long-term trend of 2.9 per cent. The figure is higher than last month's print of 3.4 per cent.
Company news
Biotech company Viralytics Limited
(ASX:VLA) shares soared today on news a significant number of patients responded well to a cancer therapy the company is developing. Viralytics says a phase II clinical trial of its treatment Cavatak, for late-stage melanoma patients has already achieved its major goal despite patients still being recruited for the study. Shares in Viralytics closed 10.14 per cent up at $0.38.
Resource services company Worleyparsons Limited
(ASX:WOR) has won a contract to build an oil sands project in Canada. The company said it would receive $402 million in revenue for the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of field facilities for the MacKay River commercial oil sands project in Alberta. Shares in Worleyparsons closed 0.17 per cent up at $23.07.
Atlas Iron Limited
(ASX:AGO) shares fell 2.18 per cent despite the miner shipping a record 960 thousand tonnes of iron ore in August, supported by record production across mining, processing and haulage.
Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory
(ASX:WCB) shares firmed after it labelled Bega Cheese’s Limited
(ASX:BGA) takeover bid highly opportunistic and urged shareholders to take no action as it continues to mull the offer.
AGL Energy Limited
(ASX:AGK) shares rose 2.1 per cent after it increased its stake in takeover target Australian Power and Gas Company Limited
(ASX:APK) to 87.89 per cent, edging closer to the compulsory acquisition threshold of 90 per cent.
Nexus Energy Limited
(ASX:NXS) shares firmed 2.82 per cent after its net profit came in at $17.5 million, a significant turnaround from last year’s loss of $342 million.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector was Utilities adding 30 points to close at 5,432.
The worst performing sector was Energy, losing 107 points to close at 13,963.
The best performing stock in the S&PASX 200 was TPG Telecom Limited
(ASX:TPM), rising 5.91 per cent to close at $4.48. Shares in Sirius Resources N.L.
(ASX:SIR) and iiNet Limited
(ASX:IIN) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Paladin Energy Limited
(ASX:PDN), dropping 6.42 per cent to close at $0.51. Shares in Northern Star Resources Limited
(ASX:NST) and Decmil Group Limited
(ASX:DCG) also closed lower.
Commodities
Gold is trading at $US1,300 an ounce. Light crude is $1.17 down at $US105.42 a barrel.
The Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.9356.
