After the Dow closed above 16,000 for the third day straight the local market followed suit today closing slightly higher, helped by gains by the big four banks.
By the close the All Ordinaries index had added four points or 0.1% to close at 5,351, while the ASX 200 also rose by four points or 0.1% to finish on 5,357. Again we were running on lighter volume as many in the market pour over IPOs, attend AGMs or further aboard prepare to shop and give thanks.
The beaten up Gold sector recovered some ground today adding +0.6%. Financials added +0.4% with the major banks doing the bulk of the heavy lifting as far as the index was concerned. Westpac added 24 cents to $32.76, ANZ gained 16 cents to $31.95, Commonwealth Bank rose 58 cents to $76.85, National Australia Bank was up 30 cents at $34.40.
Industrials -0.5%, Materials -0.5% and Healthcare -0.1% all lost ground on the day.
The AUD was slightly stronger and is still holding the around 92 US cent mark as RBA deputy governor Philip Lowe failed to match Glenn Stevens jawboning in a speech today. In late trade the local unit was buying 91.90 US cents.
Energy markets have shrugged off the Iran news with Crude Oil (WTI) stronger at 94.53USD/bbl. Gold may have found a low and was also trading stronger adding +0.85% to 1,252.20USD/t oz.
Ansell (ANN) went into a trading halt today after the company announced it had acquired North American group BarrierSafe Solutions for approximately $670 million. It’s the fourth acquisition for ANN in the FY and it’s also the biggest. The glove maker will fund the acquisition via debt facilities, a placement and a purchase plan. ANN last traded at $19.46.
Woolworths (WOW) held their AGM today. Long serving CFO Tom Pockett is leaving after 11 years. Masters and Dick Smith were the other talking points of the day. The hardware rollout lost another $139m and is not projected to turn a profit until 2016. WOW shares closed at $34.08 up 0.35%.
Harvey Norman (HVN) also held their AGM today. More calls for the Government to impose GST on overseas and online purchases. However the rise in consumer confidence since the federal election has not provided a boost in its sales. HVN shares ended up seven cents, or 2.2% at $3.29 in line with a decent day in the retail sector.
ASX 200 Gainers and Losers
The gold stable managed to recover some ground as the price of the yellow metal stabilised. Uranium miner Paladin (PDN) was the big winner adding +11.39% to close at $0.44.
Top 5 Gainers;
• PDN PALADIN ENERGY LTD +11.39%
• SIR SIRIUS RESOURCES NL +7.02%
• SBM ST BARBARA LIMITED +7.02%
• NST NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LTD +5.34%
• RRL REGIS RESOURCES LIMITED +5.33%
Mining services gave up ground again today. The old Campbell Brothers now ALS Limited was off -3.59% to $8.60 after providing limited guidance yesterday. Decmil -3.64% and Boart Longyear -6.15% were also weaker in the space.
Top 5 Losers;
• BLY BOART LONGYEAR LIMITED -6.15%
• TSE TRANSFIELD SERVICES LIMITED -5.47%
• FWD FLEETWOOD CORPORATION LIMITED -5.23%
• EWC ENERGY WORLD CORPORATION LTD -5.00%
• HZN HORIZON OIL LIMITED -4.76%
