Australia Market ends 0.4% lower

Headline equities of the Australia stock market closed down on Monday, 13 August 2018, as risk aversion selloff triggered on tracking soft cues from Wall Street Friday and decline in other Asian bourses on Monday amid lingering global trade tensions and the Turkish lira's slide. Among ASX sub-indexes, materials, consumer discretionary, industrials, and materials sectors were notable losers, while utilities and information technology issues were notable gainers. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 26.22 points, or 0.42%, to 6,252.17. The broader All Ordinaries Index declined 25.56 points, or 0.4%, to 6,341.25.

Shares of material and resources companies declined as global trade tensions pressured commodity prices. Among miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, and Fortescue Metals declined in a range of 1-2%.

 

Among individual stocks: shares of JB Hi-Fi dropped 0.4% after electronics and whitegoods retailer posted a 35% jump in full-year profit and boosting its final dividend.

Steelmaker Bluescope unveiled 119% jump in net profit to A$1.57 billion for the fiscal year ended June 2018. The result was boosted by one-off gains totalling $743.1 million, relating to tax offsets and the reversal of last year's Australian steel products plant and equipment impairments. Underlying profit after tax, which strips out the effect of one-off items, rose a steady 27% to A$826 million. BlueScope said it will pay a final dividend of eight cents per share, up from five cents paid a year ago. It will also launch a A$250 million share buyback in the first half of 2018/19. Its shares dropped 1.5% to A$17.61.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was lower against greenback and other major currencies, as investors fled to the security of the greenback. The Australia dollar was at 72.81 US cents, down from its Friday close of 73.17 US cents.

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