The share market has lost ground on another busy day of company earnings reports, as a fall in commodity prices weighed on the big miners, and Rio Tinto traded without its latest dividend.
Qantas and Crown Resorts were among the best performers after posting earnings reports, while Ramsay Health Care and Ardent Leisure disappointed investors.
The Australian dollar overcame a sharper-than-expected fall in business investment in the December quarter to remain close to 77 US cents.
“There wasn’t much of an offshore lead overnight in America, and if you have a look at sector breakdown, it’s mainly the materials sector that’s pulling the market down,” Atlantic Pacific Securities client advisor Gary Huxtable said.
“And Rio is really the big drag – it’s ex-dividend today.
“Other than that, the iron ore market has been consolidating after having a pretty strong run there for a good week-and-a-half.”
Rio Tinto dropped 5.45 per cent, BHP Billiton shed 2.7 per cent and Fortescue Metals lost 2.6 per cent.
South32 fell 3.85 per cent as the competition watchdog expressed concern over its proposed $US200 million acquisition of the Metropolitan Colliery in NSW from Peabody Energy.
Investor response to the many company earnings reports was mixed.
Qantas gained 5.35 per cent despite a 25 per cent fall in its half year profit, as investors thought the results demonstrated the airline’s resilience in a competitive market.
Casinos operator Crown surged 7.9 per cent as it announced a weaker underlying first half profit, but launched a $500 million share buyback and declared a special dividend.
Hospitals operator Ramsay Health Care backtracked 3.2 per cent despite a 14 per cent rise in half year profit and an upgrade of its full year profit growth forecast.
Nine Entertainment surged 7.25 per cent as it made a half year loss of $237, because of another big writedown against its free-to-air TV network.
Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure plunged 21.8 per cent as it posted a half year loss of $49 million after slashing the theme park’s value by more than $90 million.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 dropped 20.4 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 5,784.7 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index dropped 17.6 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 5,832.5 points
* The March SPI200 futures contract was down 11 points at 5,759 points, with 27,099 contracts traded
* National market turnover was 2.44 billion shares worth $5.82 billion.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 76.97 US cents, from 76.91 on Wednesday
* 87.173 Japanese yen, from 87.10 yen
* 72.85 euro cents, from 72.46 cents
* 61.83 British pence, from 61.61 pence
* 106.73 New Zealand cents, from 107.17 NZ cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1,236.20 per fine ounce, up $US1.20 from $US1,235.00 on Wednesday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
* CGS 5.25 per cent March 2019, 1.825pct, from 1.861pct
* CGS 4.25pct April 2026, 2.7295pct, from 2.7825pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* March 2017 10-year bond futures contract at 97.18 (implying a yield of 2.82pct), from 97.135 (2.865pct) on Wednesday
* March 2017 3-year bond futures contract at 97.96 (2.04pct), from 97.93 (2.07pct).
(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEDT previous local session, bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session)
