Thursday, June 21, 2007

Wall St falls so we join the bandwagon

The sharemarket finished lower yesterday after a weak US lead, with mining group BHP Billiton among only a handful of companies to book gains.
The ASX 200 index finished 9.9 points lower at 6387, while the All Ordinaries was down 9.1 to 6411.9.
ABN Amro Morgans director of equities Bill Chatterton said the weaker market came after a sharp fall in Wall Street stocks.
"I think we just jumped on the bandwagon," he said.
"If you look across everything, there is not much greenery," he said, referring to the fact that most companies finished lower.
The Dow Jones industrial had lost 146 points and closed at 13,489.
"BHP Billiton had a pretty decent day, so did Babcock and Brown, but most of the big ones have come off," Mr Chatterton said.
BHP Billiton finished up 54c at $35.09, while rival Rio Tinto was 99c lower at $99.50. Alumina closed down 5c at $7.93.
The big banks were nudged a bit, the Commonwealth dropping 26c to $54.90, NAB falling 15c to $41.29 and ANZ too slipping 15c to $29.40. Westpac, though, was up a penny to $25.85.
Logistics firm Brambles fell on news its European sales rose by just 2 per cent, well below market expectations of 5 per cent. It fell 55c to $12.08.
The property sector was lower after a string of announcements in the final days of the financial year.
Multiplex, which on Wednesday announced a $715 million Middle East hotel development, fell 1c to $5.04 and rival Leighton slipped 4c to $46.10 after announcing a Melbourne infrastructure contract.
Lend Lease fell 20c to $19.11 and mall owner Westfield was down 15c to $20.95.
Coles shares fell 35c to $16.55 after it dismissed reports that a TPG-led private equity consortium had abandoned a bid for the retailer. Rival Woolworths fell 26c to $27.39.
Publishing & Broadcasting was up 10c to $19.30 and News Corp's non-voting scrip was 15c higher at $26.33.
Other major media companies fell, with News Corp down 7c to $28.09, Fairfax 8c lower at $4.80, Seven Network down a zack to $11.48 and Ten Network off another 6c to $2.81, its fifth consecutive down day.
Investment bank Babcock & Brown bucked the trend and rose 28c to $33.94 but rival investment bank Macquarie Bank dropped 8c to $92.51.
Telstra was 2c lower at $4.70 and the instalment receipts were down 1c at $3.22.
Optus owner Singapore Telecommunications closed 1c lower at $2.63.

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