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Australian shares slip on retail sales, capex

Thursday, 1 Sep 2016 15:22:06 | Thuy Ong

The ASX 200 has slipped to a one-and-a-half-month low (AAP: Dean Lewins)

Australian shares have closed modestly lower as figures showing retail sales remained flat, while business investments fell in July.

Markets at 5:04pm (AEST)

  • ASX 200 -0.3% to 5,416, All Ords -0.3% to 5,511
  • Major gains: Aconex +7.2% to $6.87, M Pharma +3.5% to $1.92, Select +3.1% to $6.91
  • Major losses: West Areas -5.3% to $2.34, Whitehaven -4.6% to $1.86, Syrah Resources -4.2% to $4.07
  • Futures: Euro STOXX 600 +0.2% to 345, S&P 500 +0.3% to 2,175, FTSE +0.4% to 6,813
  • AUD: 75.4 US cents, 57.4 British pence, 77.8 Japanese yen, 67.6 euro cents, $NZ1.037

But losses were stemmed by gains in banking and other blue chip stocks.

The index is hovering at one-and-a-half-month lows at the end of reporting season, with UBS finding the market looks set to record a grim 8 per cent drop in earnings per share for the 2016 financial year.

The big four banks mostly climbed higher. ANZ added 0.6 per cent, while NAB gained 0.3 per cent. Commonwealth Bank bucked the trend to fall 0.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, new figures from the ABS show business investment has fallen again, tumbling 5.4 per cent in the June quarter to be down more than 17 per cent over the year.

Mining remains the main drag, with capital expenditure down 16 per cent over the quarter.

BHP Billiton lost 2.9 per cent as it traded ex-dividend. Rio Tinto tumbled 1.3 per cent to a near two-month low of $46.99.

Retail sales also disappointed as figures missed expectations in July, showing a flat result as sales in groceries were offset by a slump in department store spending.

Grocers Woolworths and Wesfarmers added 0.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.

In commodities trade, spot gold slipped 0.1 per cent to $US1,307, iron ore is 0.3 per cent higher at $US59 a tonne and West Texas crude has dropped 3.5 per cent to $US46.68 a barrel.

AustraliaPlus


 

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