The Australian share market saw a steady decline today and closed 1 per cent down as falls on Wall street last night flowed through to the local bourse.
Lower than expected consumer confidence figures also weighed on optimism, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute index showed a lift of only 1.9 per cent in consumer confidence in July.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 58 points down to finish at 5,453.
The value of trades was $4.07 billion on volume of 656 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 61 points down.
Company news
Gold production by Resolute Mining Limited
(ASX:RSG) has come in at 342,773 ounces for the 2014 financial year.
The company’s guidance hoped for 345,000 ounces in 2014 and its cash costs came in at $922 per ounce. Guidance for 2015 was expected to be slightly lower at 315,000 ounces due to the conclusion of the Golden Pride mine in Tanzania and lower grade ore from the Ravenswood mine. Shares in Resolute Mining closed 6.84 per cent up at $0.63.
Aurizon Holdings Limited
(ASX:AZJ) and Chinese steel giant Baosteel will compulsorily acquire Aquila Resources Limited
(ASX:AQA) after the consortium boosted its interest above 90 per cent.
The consortium will acquire the remaining shares in Aquila in due course and have indicated that the company will be delisted in the future. The bidders have recommended that Aquila shareholders accept the offer as soon as possible. Shares in Aurizon closed 1.39 per cent down at $4.98.
Yellow Brick Road Holdings Limited
(ASX:YBR) will acquire Resi Mortgage Corporation for $36 million.
Alcoa (ASX:AAI, NYSE:AA) has beaten analyst expectations with its second quarter result. The aluminium giant rebounded to a quarterly profit of $US138 million from a loss of $US119 million the year before.
James Packer’s Crown Resorts Limited
(ASX:CWN) has scored a win for its hotel development at Barangaroo on Sydney’s harbour as the NSW government has granted the gaming company a 99-year licence to operate a casino at the site.
Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO) has welcomed the signing of the Australia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Best and worst performers
All major sectors are down. The sector with the least losses was real estate investment trusts losing 0.4 per cent to close at 1,079. The worst performing sector was consumer discretionary, losing 2.7 per cent to close at 1,786 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Northern Star Resources Limited
(ASX:NST), rising 14.02 per cent to close at $1.51. Shares in Evolution
(ASX:EVN) and Resolute Mining Limited
(ASX:RSG) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Navitas Limited
(ASX:NVT), dropping 30.97 per cent to close at $4.86. Shares in CSR Limited
(ASX:CSR) and Ainsworth Game Technology Limited
(ASX:AGI) also closed lower.
IPO 3P Learning
(ASX:TPN) started trading today. The education software developer floated with an issue price of $2.50, opened at $2.39 and closed at $2.15.
Commodities
Gold is trading at $US1,326 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.13 down at $US103.40 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.9403
