Australian shares finished lower on Monday, hurt by disappointing earnings results from logistics giant Brambles and engineering group Worley Parsons.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dropped 0.18 per cent to 5,795.1 points on Monday as Brambles dragged the Industrials sector 1.83 per cent lower.
Shaw & Partners senior private client adviser Craig Sidney said Brambles accounted for about half the market’s fall.
Brambles was the biggest loser among the nation’s 20 biggest companies, falling $1.04, or 9.9 per cent, to $9.46 after reporting a 50 per cent drop in first-half net profit, due to major writedowns and cutting its annual profit guidance.
CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said a fall in earnings at Brambles’ North American pallet business “clouds the outlook” for the year ahead.
BHP dropped 17 cents to $26.47 on the back of weaker base metals prices across the board on Friday night, Mr Sidney said.
Rival Rio Tinto fell 15 cents to $67.64.
Mining services group WorleyParsons closed $1.26, or 13 per cent, lower at $8.60 after reporting a first-half net loss, driven by more restructuring costs.
Mr Sidney said WorleyParsons shares had surged over the past 12 months from $4 to $10, and are now sitting at $8.60.
“Disappointing results but there’d also be some profit taking on the back of the strength over the last 12 months,” he said.
The energy sector came under pressure as investors took some profit after the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 recently breached the 5,800 points.
“The market hitting that 5,800 has probably seen a little bit of selling in our market and maybe that energy space seems a little bit vulnerable at the moment,” Mr Sidney said.
Origin Energy and Santos have all reported earnings recently, with Santos’ reporting disappointing results on Friday.
Wesfarmers closed 75 cents, or 1.7 per cent lower, at $42.34 after going ex-dividend.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has failed to hold onto recent gains above 77 US cents, falling against the greenback.
The Aussie was at 76.78 US cents at 1700 AEDT from 77.09 US cents at the same time on Friday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 10.7 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 5,795.1 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 10.5 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 5,840.5 points.
* At 1630 AEDT, the March SPI 200 futures contract was down four points, or 0.07 per cent, to 5,751 points with 27,852 contracts traded
* National turnover was 3.85 billion securities traded worth $5.79 billion.
CURRENCY UPDATE AT 1700 AEDT:
* 76.78 US cents, from 77.09 US cents at Friday’s close.
* 86.84 Japanese yen, from 87.40 yen
* 72.34 euro cents, from 72.24 cents
* 61.80 British pence, from 61.67 pence
* 106.99 New Zealand cents, from 106.99 NZ cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1,234.03 per fine ounce, down $US3.60 from $US1,237.63 on Friday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
* CGS 5.25 per cent March 2019, 1.832pct, down from 1.852pct
* CGS 4.25pct April 2026, 2.735pct, down from 2.748pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* March 2017 10-year bond futures contract at 97.175 (implying a yield of 2.825pct), up from 97.165 (2.835pct) Friday
* March 2017 3-year bond futures contract at 97.950 (2.050pct), up from 97.940 (2.060pct)
(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEDT previous local session, bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session)
