Australian Stock Market Today
15th January 2019
Disappointing Chinese trade data has given Australia’s mining and energy sectors a slap and kept the broader market flat after what promised to be a positive start to the week. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed 0.02 per cent, lower at 5,773 on Monday as early gains on US-China trade hopes evaporated. The broader All Ordinaries was down 0.03 per cent, at 5,833. The big miners finished the day in the red, with BHP dropping 0.24 per cent to $32.71 and Rio Tinto down 0.31 per cent to $79.40. South32 was flat at $3.40, while Bluescope Steel plunged 5.17 per cent to $11.55 and Fortescue Metals dipped 1.31 per cent to $4.52. Shares in Santos fell 0.17 per cent to $5.83, Woodside Petroleum dropped 0.54 per cent to $33.08, and Oil Search shed 0.79 per cent to $7.55. Origin Energy was down 1.14 per cent to $6.91, Beach Energy was flat at $1.565, and Soul Pattinson dropped 0.42 per cent to $26.05. Caltex shares were 0.38 per cent lower at $26.51. Wesfarmers shares dropped 2.16 per cent, or 69 cents, to $31.26 after announcing a disappointing Christmas period for Kmart. Meanwhile, Coles supermarket rose 3.12 per cent to $11.89, regaining ground after two sessions in the red, with Costa Group Holdings also rebounding 4.35 per cent to $4.85 after suffering a near 40 per cent loss on Friday on weaker demand for fruit and veg. Seven West Media rose 4.72 per cent to 55.5 cents and Nine Entertainment shares jumped 4.59 per cent to $1.48 in a solid session for telcos.
