Australia Market ends softer

Headline indices of the Australian financial market closed down in last session of 2018, Monday, 31 December 2018, in a shortened trading session on New Year's Eve, on following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. Among ASX sectors, materials and financials held onto earlier gains but realty, industrials and consumer staples issues weighed on the market as the final session for 2018 came to a close. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 7.93 points, or 0.14%, to 5,646.40 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index shed 6.56 points, or 0.11%, to 5,709.40 points.

Shares of financials were higher, with Commonwealth Bank was the best performer of the big lenders, up 0.67% to A$72.39 in a solid day for the financial sector. National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking - rose in a range of 1% to 1.6%.

 

Shares of materials sector were up. Rio Tinto finished up 0.5% to A$78.47 and BHP climbed 0.8% higher to A$34.23, while Fortescue Metals gained 1.2% after naming the preferred contractor for the A$57 million stage one earthworks for its Eliwana Rail Project. Gold miner Newcrest rose 3.46% to $21.80 on a near six-month peak for the precious metal. Galaxy Resources shares were 2.7% lower after the company issued a cautious statement on vetting potential partners for its flagship Argentinian lithium project. Northern Star was unchanged after fellow miners Rand and Tribune rejected its A$150 m offer for their 49% stake in a WA gold project.

Shares of energy stocks were mostly higher after crude oil prices rose on Friday. Woodside Petroleum added 0.5% and Santos rose 0.2%, while Oil Search was down 0.4%.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia said that private sector credit in Australia was up 0.3% on month in November, and slowing from 0.4% growth in October.

CURRENCY: Australian Dollar was virtually unchanged against greenback on Monday. The Australian dollar was quoted at $0.7048, the same as on Friday.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS: U.S. stocks closed mixed on Friday in a volatile session as traders seemed to take a breather following the substantial volatility seen over the past several sessions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 76.42 points or 0.3% to 23,062.40 and the S&P 500 edged down 3.09 points or 0.1% at 2,485.74. The Nasdaq inched up 5.03 points or 0.1% to 6,584.52.

The major European markets closed higher on Friday. The French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both surged up by 1.7%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index spiked by 2.3%

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