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Australian shares slip as CBA profit disappoints

Wednesday, 10 Aug 2016 15:55:02 | Thuy Ong

Australian shares have finished modestly lower as some earnings results disappointed. (Daniel Munoz, file photo: REUTERS)

Australian shares have slipped as investors sold out of the banking sector after Commonwealth's profit report disappointed.

Markets at 5:29pm (AEST)

ASX 200 -0.2% to 5,544, All Ords -0.2% to 5,628
Major gains: Cochlear +7.6% to $134.51, St Barbara +4.9% to $3.23, Mesoblast +4.6% to $1.27
Major losses: Monadelphous -7.4% to $10.72, Whitehaven -5.6% to $1.77, Fairfax -4.5% to $0.95
Futures: Euro STOXX 600 -0.3% to 342.8, FTSE -0.3% to 6,781, S&P 500 flat at 2,178.
AUD: 77 US cents, 59.1 British pence, 78.1 Japanese yen, 69 euro cents, $NZ1.069

Commonwealth Bank posted a full-year net profit of $9.23 billion, but slightly missed average profit forecasts with investors concerned about a deterioration in asset quality.

Commonwealth Bank lost 1.3 per cent to $77.40, after touching a two-month intra-day high of $79.09.

Other banks were mixed, with Westpac slipping 0.6 per cent, NAB finishing flat, and ANZ gaining 1.2 per cent.

Bellwether miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both drifted 0.7 per cent lower, while Fortescue Metals tumbled 2.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, Fairfax Media dumped 4.5 per cent to close at a one-month low of $0.95, after the embattled media company made a loss of $893.5 million for financial year 2016.

The Australian dollar rose 0.4 per cent to a three-month high of 77 US cents, as the US dollar slipped on weak economic data.

In commodities trade, oil slipped to $US42.73 a barrel, iron ore was stronger at $US61.40 a tonne, while gold ticked higher to $US1,354 an ounce.

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