Mal Maiden: Business Matters
Business columnist Malcolm Maiden takes a look at the news in this week's business market.
Close Shares have ended the day virtually unchanged, after eight straight session of gains, with the property sector hit by losses. A takeover plan by Atlas Iron sent Aurox Resources shares almost tripling.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 0.1 point lower at 4820, while the broader All Ordinaries index inched up 0.5 point to 4829.8 points.
Among the sectors, property trusts lost 2.2 per cent, materials slipped 0.2 per cent, while financials gained 0.1 per cent.
need2know:
- Asian shares hover near six-week highs
- The dollar edges higher to 91.6 US cents
- Oil hovers at $US81.50 a barrel
- Gold steady at $US1125 an ounce
- Dow futures flat at 10,563
CommSec market analyst Juliette Saly said banking stocks were generally stronger but mining stocks fell on profit-taking. Ms Saly said worse than expected housing data had jolted the market.
Official data showed housing loan approvals fell by 7.9 per cent in January in seasonally adjusted terms, which compared with market expectations for a 2 per cent increase.
Most major banks were strong although the National Australia Bank fell 7 cents to $26.80 following strong gains in recent days. Commonwealth Bank rose 48 cents to $55.69, ANZ increased 12 cents to $23.94, Westpac put on 36 cents to $27.33 and Macquarie Group was up 22 cents to $49.05.
Miners hit by profit-taking
Big miners fell as profit-takers moved in.
‘‘BHP and Rio Tinto had a really great run coming through last week particularly,’’ Ms Saly said. ‘‘We haven’t seen too much conviction in base metals prices this week, which has certainly weighed on the miners, and the weaker US dollar as well."
BHP Billiton closed down 16 cents to $43.24 and Rio Tinto fell 80 cents to $75.35.
Minerals explorer Aurox Resources leapt up 46.5 cents, or 172.2 per cent, to 73.5 cents after agreeing to a takeover by mid-tier iron ore miner Atlas Iron. The move could end Atlas’s reliance on Fortescue’s port facilities. Fortescue shares fell 2 cents, to $4.82.
Among the gold miners Lihir rose 9 cents to $2.98 and Newcrest fell 12 cents to $34.18.
Energy companies had a mixed day, with Woodside Petroleum up 27 cents to $45.49 and Oil Search up 8 cents to $5.72.
Gas giant Santos energy lost 18 cents to finish at $13.90 and Origin dropped 28 cents to $16.66.
Explosives, chemicals and paint supplier Orica told the market a defeat of an appeal in the Federal Court of an amended tax assessment will cost it a further $92 million. Its shares gained 30 cents to $25.31.
Mixed media
The media sector was mixed, with News Corp losing 16 cents to $18.30 and the company’s non-voting scrip was off 29 cents to $15.50. Fairfax fell 2.5 cents to $1.74 and Consolidated Media rose 1 cent to $3.19.
Retailers were also mixed, with Coles owner Wesfarmers falling 48 cents to $32.23 and Woolworths was up 8 cents to $28.20. Myer fell 4 cents to $3.47, Harvey Norman fell 5 cents to $3.92 and David Jones gained 3 cents to $5.07.
Fund managers and traders expect more modest gains over the year ahead after a blistering 55 per cent rise from the market's intraday low on March 10, 2009.
"Shares will pop up over the course of this year as earnings improve," said E.L. & C. Baillieu Stockbroking director Richard Morrow. "This time last year, it was slash your wrists time."
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AAP, with BusinessDay, Reuters
