Close The Australian sharemarket fell today, led down by the big miners, as investors took profits.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index was down 37.1 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 4651.9,fell while the broader All Ordinaries Index fell 34.8 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 4723.4.
Among the sectors, gold shares slumped 2.8 per cent, materials fell 1.4 per cent, energy shed 0.9 per cent and financials lost 0.6 per cent.
The Australian dollar was trading at 98.48 US cents after having touched parity with the greenback late Friday night.
need2know:
- The dollar drops to 98.48 US cents
- Asian shares slip on profit-taking
- Gold falls to $US1360 as greenback rises
- Oil slides to 1-week low of $US80
- Dow futures are 55 points lower at 10,969
"We saw a sell-off of risk assets – including the Aussie dollar, gold and resources stocks – which means investors are getting out of positions that have had a good run during the previous weeks," said CityIndex head of dealing Michael McCarthy. "However, trading volumes are quite thin and low today."
The miners fell despite a higher copper prices as lower price of gold and some selling pressure on the Australian dollar appear to have infected the local bourse with negative sentiment.
Pilbara JV shelved
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto announced they have formally scrapped plans for a $US116 billion ($117.4 billion) joint venture in the Pilbara.
BHP Billiton closed down 47 cents, or 1.13 per cent, to $41.18, while Rio was down 22 cents, or 0.26 per cent, at $82.98.
‘‘That deal Rio and BHP were going to do with their iron ore has been pulled, so that might have slowed them down a little bit,’’ said RBS Morgans director of equities Bill Chatterton.
The domestic banks followed the weak lead from US counterparts. Westpac was the weakest performer of the big banks, down 30 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $22.63. ANZ finished down 23 cents at $23.58, CBA lost 45 cents to $50.65 and NAB slipped 17 cents to $25.32.
Tabcorp to demerge
In market news, gambling firm Tabcorp Holdings said it would demerge its casinos operations from its wagering, gaming and keno businesses to create two separate Australian-listed entities. The demerger fuelled speculation the whole company could be ripe for a takeover.
The gamer said it will also raise $430 million in fresh capital, after announcing the departure next year of its chief executive Elmer Funke Kupper.
Tabcorp shares were in a trading halt on Monday, having closed on Friday at $7.10.
Fortescue Metals Group announced it had launched an international roadshow to offer $US2.04 billion worth of senior unsecured notes to fund its iron ore mine expansion plans.
Fortescue Metals closed 10 cents lower at $6.31.
Perpetual soars on bid
Fund manager Perpetual rose 22 per cent to an eight-month closing high of $37.80 after revealing a $1.7 billion takeover offer from private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
The bid sent rivals higher too, with AMP rising 2.4 per cent to a 10-day closing high of $5.49, AXA Asia
Pacific gaining 1.2 per cent to $5.22 and Challenger Financial Services Group adding 3.9 per cent to $4.80, the highest since January 2008.
Challenger unveiled record quarterly sales for its life annuities business.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining closed down $1.15, or 2.7 per cent, to $40.93.
The most traded stock by volume was Abm Resources, with 117.63 million shares worth $4.26 million changing hands. Shares in Abm Resources closed down 0.2 cents, or 5 per cent, at 3.8 cents.
Preliminary market turnover was 2.26 billion securities worth $4.03 billion, with 485 stocks up, 642 down and 361 unchanged.
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AAP, with BusinessDay