AFTERNOON REPORT (4.30pm AEDT)
The local share market traded virtually sideways today, as
investors stayed out of the market ahead of a key meeting of
European leaders at the weekend. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO)
lost 3.4pts by close to 4203.4 while the S&P/ASX 200 Index
(XJO) fell 3pts to 4141.9.
The European Union summit was expected to nut out a viable
solution to the region's debt crisis, however overnight sources
from Germany's coalition said it's unlikely a decision will be
reached this weekend, with a follow up meeting to be held next
Wednesday.
Over the course of the very volatile trading week, the
Australian market dropped 1.5pct.
Financial stocks were mixed, with shares in the ANZ (ANZ) up
0.4pct to $21.21 and the Commonwealth Bank (
CBA
) down 0.4pct to $47.55. Macquarie Group (MQG) lost 2pct to
$22.53.
Mining stocks also ended mixed. Shares in BHP Billiton (
BHP
) rose by 0.6pct to $35.70 while Rio Tinto (
RIO
) was off 0.5pct to $62.57.
Macarthur Coal (
MCC
) rose 0.9pct to $16.22 after Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal
appeared certain to take over the Queensland coking coal miner
following an about-face from China´s CITIC. Analysts said the
deal meant there were almost no independent coal miners left in
Australia for foreigners to invest in. CITIC Resources Holdings
and CITIC Group intend to accept the offer for Macarthur shares
from PEAMCoal, the bidding vehicle for US miner Peabody Energy
and the European steelmaker ArcelorMittal. The suitor´s ownership
of Macarthur is now 49pct, with 50.01pct needed for a change of
control. The $4.9 billion offer is for $16 per Macarthur share,
which will increase to $16.25 if they achieve a 90pct stake by
November 11. CITIC will earn $1.2 billion by selling its
share.
Strong performers on the market today included David Jones
(DJS), which rose 4.6pct to $3.16 and hearing implant maker
Cochlear (
COH
) which added 4.6pct to $57.98.
The Australian dollar ended the day's trade at US102.44c,
£0.6479 and €74.3c.
On the market overall, a total of 1.5 billion shares were
traded, worth $4.1 billion. 471 were up, 470 were down and 353
were unchanged.
At 4.30pm AEDT on the ASX24, the futures contract was at 4159,
up 3pts.
There is no economic data released in the US tonight.
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