Aussie stocks finished in a sea of red today after the market dived 1.5 per cent to close at the low of the session. The local benchmark lost about $24 billion in value, marking the biggest daily drop since September last year. Falls on our market rippled on from Wall Street after US equity valuations came into question.
Across the local board all sectors ended in negative territory with most losing more than 1 per cent and the consumer discretionary sector shedding more than 2 per cent by close. Though gold stocks provided some support early in the session the sector reversed gains and also ended more than 1 per cent down.
Figures
The S&P/ASX 200 index plunged 80.1 points to finish at 5,212.
The value of trades was $4.1 billion on volume of 710 million 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 Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC).
On the futures market the SPI is 85 points lower.
Economic news
Merger and acquisition activity in Australia picked up in 2013 according to the latest trend report on the industry. Mergermarket reports the 445 deals executed in Australia reached a value of $73.1 billion in 2013, up 66.5 per cent from 2012. Mergermarket says Energy, Mining & Utilities continued to dominate with their market value rising 8.5 per cent to $21 billion in 2013 despite market share falling to 28.8 per cent from 44.2 per cent in the same period.
Company news
Woodside Petroleum Limited
(ASX:WPL) has expanded its relationship with major Japanese energy buyers through inking a supply deal with Chubu Electric. The oil and gas giant will supply up to 1.5m tonnes of liquefied natural gas over the next three years from April 2013. Shares in Woodside Petroleum eased 0.59 per cent today to end the session at $37.35.
DEXUS Property Group
(ASX:DXS) looks to be the front-runner in the battle for Commonwealth Property Office Fund
(ASX:CPA) after rival suitor GPT Group
(ASX:GPT) ruled out making a sweetened bid today. DEXUS’ joint bid with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has already scored the backing of independent directors acting on behalf of Commonwealth Property Office Fund. Shares in DEXUS Property Group fell 1.44 per cent today to end the session at $1.02.
Shares in Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO) ended 0.25 per cent lower after the global miner said it has maintained its 50.8 per cent stake in Canadian miner Turquoise Hill Resources after buying $1.32 billion of shares under a rights offering.
Shares in Newcrest Mining Limited
(ASX:NCM) fell 0.79 per cent after the gold mining company secured a new $US200 million loan facility for extra liquidity headroom.
Shares in Forge Group Limited
(ASX:FGE) plunged 18 per cent after the mining services company flagged another write-down of between $23 million and $28 million.
Shares in REA Group Limited
(ASX:REA) ended 1.49 per cent down after the online real estate advertiser said it will pay $15 million to buy online tenants application service 1Form Online Pty Ltd.
Best and worst performers
All sectors ended in negative territory. The sector with the smallest losses was telco services, losing 17 points to close at 1,806. The worst performing sector was consumer discretionary, dropping 41 points to close at 1,770 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Alumina Limited
(ASX:AWC), rising 4.76 per cent to close at $1.21. Shares in Western Areas Limited
(ASX:WSA) and Alacer Gold Corp
(ASX:AQG) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Forge Group Limited
(ASX:FGE), falling 18 per cent to close at $1.02. Shares in Mineral Resources Limited
(ASX:MIN) and Henderson Group
(ASX:HGG) also closed lower.
Commodities
Gold is trading at $US1,252.40 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.92 lower at $US91.80 a barrel.
Currencies
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.9034.
