Business News
Aussie shares take off over 0.4%
by Andrew Newton Brown
Australian shares following Wall Street lower today with the S&P/ASX 200 down 0.48 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 lost 20.7 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 4254.3.
The All Ords was 18.6 points, or 0.43 per cent, lower to 4347.
Among the major miners today, BHP Billiton fell $0.61, or 1.73 per cent, to $34.70 and Rio Tinto was $0.27, or 0.41 per cent, lower to $65.34.
In financials, ANZ dropped $0.11, or 0.49 per cent, to $22.42, CBA took off $0.27, or 0.55 per cent, to $48.63, NAB fell $0.10, or 0.41 per cent, to $24.10 and Westpac was $0.15 or 0.71 per cent lower to $21.05.
In energy, Woodside Petroleum lost $0.42, or 1.19 per cent, to $34.90, Santos took off $0.13, or 0.9 per cent, to $14.38 and Oil Search was $0.05, or 0.72 per cent, lower to $6.92.
In retail news, David Jones announced net profit in the six months ending 28 January 2012 fell 19.6 per cent to $85 million compared with the same period a year earlier. Full year profit is expected to fall 35 to 40 per cent. Shares plummeted $0.30, or 10.99 per cent, to $2.43.
Myer was $0.02, or 0.88 per cent, lower to $2.24.
Kathmandu reported half-year net profit fell 43.1 per cent to NZ$5.98 million compared with a year earlier. Shares lost $0.24, or 16.11 per cent, to $1.25.
And Oroton said half-year net profit rose four per cent to $16.1 million. Shares dropped $0.32, or 3.55 per cent, to $8.70.
Woolworths lost $0.01, or 0.04 per cent, to $24.93 and Wesfarmers fell $0.32, or 1.11 per cent, to $28.60.
To Asia, the Nikkei was 60.17 points, or 0.59 per cent, lower to 10,081.82 and the Hang Seng took off 88.7 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 20,798.23.
The Australian dollar was buying 104.78 US cents, 65.98 pence Sterling, 78.98 euro cents and 87.71 Japanese yen.
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Published on: Wednesday, March 21, 2012
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