The Australian share market ended the week on a soft note after a buoyant week of gains fuelled by the US Federal Reserve’s surprise decision to maintain its economic stimulus program yesterday.
The announcement buoyed commodity prices, pushed the Australian dollar to a three-month high and saw the local bourse edge toward 5,300 yesterday. Today’s weakness was exacerbated in the health, mining and financial sectors but slightly offset by strength in energy, consumer staples and utilities.
Attention now turns to Germany’s Federal election this Sunday and upcoming US congressional negotiations to tackle the impending debt ceiling.
Figures
The S&P/ASX 200 index lost 19 points today, trimming the weekly gain of 45 points to finish at 5,277.
The value of trades was $6 billion on volume of 1.3 billion shares at the close of trade.
The top three stocks by value were Newcrest Mining Limited
(ASX:NCM), BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA).
On the futures market the SPI is 28 points lower.
Wall Street
US stocks have rallied over the four trading days this week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has added 336 points, the S&P 500 Index has added 39 points, the Nasdaq has added 73 points and the 100 Index has added 62 points.
Economic news
A gauge on spending in Australia has shown consumers are still wary about opening their wallets. Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s
(ASX:CBA) Business Sales Indicator reports sales rose 3 per cent when seasonally adjusted in August but rose just 0.3 per cent in trend terms. CommSec chief economist Craig James has forecast a pick-up in spending over the medium term.
Company news
BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) has celebrated first gas at its $US1.5 billion Macedon gas plant in Western Australia. The global mining company claims the plant will supply 20 per cent of the state’s domestic gas over the next two decades. Shares in BHP Billiton dipped 0.79 per cent today, ending the week at $36.39.
Leighton Holdings Limited’s
(ASX:LEI) Visionstream has scored a contract from Singapore Telecommunications Limited’s
(ASX:SGT) Australian arm Optus worth up to $240 million. Under the deal Visionstream will conduct civil and services work to upgrade more than 1,200 existing and new Optus mobile sites across Australia. Shares in Leighton Holdings slipped 2.19 per cent today, ending the week at $18.78.
Flight Centre Limited
(ASX:FLT) has flagged plans to change its name to Flight Centre Travel Group. The company claims the new name shows it offers more than airfares and will ask its shareholders to vote on the proposal at its annual general meeting in October. Shares in Flight Centre fell 2.51 per cent today, ending the week at $48.55.
Virgin Australia Holdings Limited’s
(ASX:VAH) Trans-Tasman alliance has cleared the final regulatory hurdle. New Zealand’s regulators have now joined the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in extending the carrier’s alliance with Air New Zealand
(ASX:AIZ) for five years. Shares in Virgin Australia Holdings dropped 4.26 per cent today, ending the week at $0.45.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector was energy adding 56 points to close at 14,165.5.
The worst performing sector was health care, losing 136 points to close at 13,674 points.
The best performing stock in the S&PASX 200 was Automotive Group Holdings Limited
(ASX:AHE), rising 5.84 per cent to close at $3.99. Shares in Energy World Corporation Limited
(ASX:EWC) and InvoCare Limited
(ASX:IVC) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Billabong International Limited
(ASX:BBG), dropping 11.58 per cent to close at $0.42. Shares in Decmil Group Limited
(ASX:DCG) and St. Barbara Limited
(ASX:SBM) also closed lower.
Commodities
Gold is trading at $US1,363.89 an ounce, up $50.59 over the week.
Light crude has eased $1.68 to $US106.39 a barrel.
The Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is buying 94.57 US cents, up 0.0221 US cents over the week.
