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OZL - in trading halt
until Friday 27th February 2009 - click
here
for all details and reports
TOTAL - has dropped by
$2231.28 in the last four trading days !!
Panoramic Resources
Limited
six months chart
Stocks close lower
The Australian share market closed strongly in the red, weighed
down by the property trust and mining sectors
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 70.8 points, or 2.02
per cent, at 3,437.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index
had shed 66.8 points, or 1.94 per cent, to 3,382.3
CommSec market analyst Juliette Saly said selling was heavier
than expected, with Westfield Group and Macquarie Group among
the worst performers
Shares in Macquarie Group were down $1.86, or 7.52 per cent,
at $22.87 while Westfield had given up $1.50, or 12.4 per cent,
to $10.60 (NOTE - Brett sold his Macquarie Group shares
on 18th September 2008 at $26.44 each)
"Investors are probably a little bit confused at the moment
and are trying to mull through a lot of the earnings results"
Ms Saly said
"We also keep hearing news of capital raisings every five
minutes ... Qantas, Lend Lease and Westfield yesterday The fact
Westfield had to raise almost $3 billion is really weighing on
the market"
Shares in BHP Billiton inched one cent lower to
$29.77 after the mining giant posted a 57 per cent drop in interim
net profit to $US2.617 billion ($A4.03 billion)
"BHP has had a volatile day after results
that were weaker than expected" Ms Saly said
"With the fact that chief executive Marius Kloppers is forecasting
long-term demand for commodities will be good and the fact BHP
is still in a very financially sound position, we did see it
up two per cent at one point but it was sold off heading into
market close"
The world's biggest miner - which had already flagged big asset
write-downs - also warned that demand for its products was contracting
while weakness and volatility in commodity prices were set to
persist
Rival Rio Tinto had retreated $1.28, or 2.81 per cent, to $44.25
Ms Saly said the Reserve Bank of Australia's 100 basis point
interest rate cut on Tuesday had been factored in to the market
Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank on Wednesday joined
Westpac and ANZ Bank in passing on the rate cut
in full to their customers on standard variable mortgages
Commonwealth Bank gained 13 cents to $29.18, National Australia
Bank fell 10 cents to $19.45, Westpac was up seven cents to $16.47
and ANZ Bank lost 42 cents to $13.28
The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US897.10 per fine ounce,
down $US4.60 on Tuesday's closing price of $US901.70
Gold stocks were weaker and Lihir Gold backtracked
10 cents, or 3.25 per cent, to $2.98, Newcrest Mining was down
70 cents, or 2.33 per cent, at $29.30 and Newmont Mining gave
up 22 cents, or 3.52 per cent, to $6.03 |
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