After a volatile week, the ASX 200 has ended in positive territory, albeit by a small margin of 0.25%.
The transformative event of the week was the improved reading on Chinese manufacturing on Thursday which provided the mining sector with a timely fillip following the selling seen at the start of the week. Miners ended lower as a group although this came after the strong gains seen on Thursday.
Gold miners were one of the weak spots in the resource sector. St Barbara Limited (SBM), an Australian gold producer and explorers ended down by 2.5 percent after Moody’s downgraded the groups credit rating from B3 to Caa1. In its communication with the ASX, SBM said there is no change to its existing debt arrangements as a consequence of the ratings agency’s action.
