It has been a negative end to the trading session for the Australian share market, despite what was looking like a promising day of trade at the start of the session. The local bourse simply ran out of puff in the last hour of trade and ended up closing the day 0.11 per cent lower. The Utilties space proved to be the biggest drag on the market this session, followed by consumer discretionaries. The telcos and financials sectors managed to counteract some of those losses, with small gains in the big four banks.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 6 points lower to finish at 5,616.
The value of trades was $4.6 billion on volume of 681 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) and ANZ Banking Group
(ASX:ANZ).
On the futures market the SPI is 5 points down.
Economic news Australian retail turnover has softened for December, according to latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retail turnover fell 0.1 per cent for the month, compared to a 0.1 per cent rise in November.
Company newsBiotron Limited
(ASX:BIT) says headline results from its HIV-1 animal trial show the addition of BIT225 significantly reduces HIV-1 viral loads beyond current best anti-retroviral treatments for HIV-1. The study was recently performed in mice whose immune system was replaced with human cells. The results demonstrate the addition of BIT225 to anti-retroviral treatment results in a delayed and slower rate of viral rebound when the anti-viral drugs are stopped. Shares in Biotron closed 14.71 per cent higher at $0.039.
The National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB) has announced a 1% fall in its unaudited cash earnings to $1.6 billion for the December 2016 quarter.
DUET Group
(ASX:DUE) has announced it has established a $150 million debt facility.
Investa Office Fund
(ASX:IOF) says it has not been able to agree with Cromwell Property Group
(ASX:CMW) when it comes to its Confidentially Agreement (CA).
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Telcos adding 0.8 per cent to close at 1,788. The worst performing sector was Utilities, losing 1.6 per cent to close at 7,951 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Bellamy’s
(ASX:BAL) rising 7.48 per cent to close at $4.60. Shares in St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) and Saracen
(ASX:SAR) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Syrah Resources
(ASX:SYR), dropping 4.97 per cent to close at $3.06. Shares in Dominos Pizza
(ASX:DMP) and South32
(ASX:S32) also closed lower.
Gold and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,224 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.09 higher at $US53.85 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7665.
