All Ordinaries Index Australia

Aust stocks close lower

By a staff reporter, with AAP

The Australian sharemarket has closed lower, after the Australian Industry Group and Pricewaterhouse issued their performance of manufacturing (PMI) index for June , revealing that manufacturing activity was at its highest in almost a year.

At the 1615 AEST official market close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had fallen 0.36 per cent to 4591.2 points, while the broader All Ordinaries Index had lost 0.25 per cent to 4647.9 points.

IG Markets analyst Ben Potter said the market was set for a fall after recent gains and as investors took profits before the weekend.

"Given the strength seen this week, it looks like we’re seeing a bout of typical Friday profit taking, especially ahead of a long weekend in the US for Independence Day," Mr Potter said.

"The market has started to look beyond the short-term Greek situation, which is being reflected through the pick-up in risk sentiment and very strong bounce in equities," he said.

Resources stocks regained some earlier losses to close flat, with the major miners closing slightly lower.

BHP Billiton inched down 0.06 per cent to $43.77, after completing its $US10 billion share buy-back early.

BHP also announced it got approval for its Jansen potash project in Canada, following an environmental impact study submitted in December 2010.

Meanwhile, rival Rio Tinto edged down 0.19 per cent to $82.83.

Fortescue Metals gained 0.67 per cent to $6.39 and Sundance Resources shed 4.41 per cent to 32.5 cents.

Rare earths miner Lynas plunged 11.61 per cent to close at $1.75, after announcing it was confident its Malaysian plant could be completed by 2011, but reports emerged the Malaysian government delayed the project by one to two years.

In gold stocks, Newcrest slipped 0.05 per cent to $37.73, while Eldorado Gold fell 0.29 per cent to $13.63.

In crude, Woodside Petroleum gave up 0.24 per cent to $40.90, Oil Search dipped 1.05 per cent to $6.58 and Santos retreated 0.29 per cent to $13.50.

In retail, Woolworths inched up 0.07 per cent to $27.77 and Wesfarmers lost 0.43 per cent to $31.71.

David Jones sank 2.93 per cent to $3.94, while Myer gave up 1.89 per cent at $2.59.

Financial stocks were lower at the close, with ANZ Banking Group falling 0.22 per cent to $21.95 and Commonwealth Bank losing 0.72 per cent to $51.92.

National Australia Bank retreated 0.54 per cent to $25.

market wrap - aussie shares jump - www.thebull.com.au

The manufacturing industry has expanded in June to a positive reading of 52.9. Commsec Economist, Savanth Sebastian said that “The key has been the fact that the Reserve Bank has remained on the interest rate sidelines for over half a year, allowing businesses to get back to focusing on what they do best. The importance of the improvement in trading conditions cannot be overstated. Key forward looking sub indices which had previously shown a contraction are now once again in expansionary mode. In fact the production sub-index recorded the best result in 11-months while the pipeline of new orders was once again expanding. The pickup in forwards orders should bode well for activity levels in coming months.” This is good news for European whisky exporters and the Korean consumer due to the lower prices they will now benefit from. Soju, however will remain South Korea’s most popular alcoholic beverage with several billion bottles sold there each year. Soju is often made from rice or sweet potato and it is common etiquette to not pour your own drink when in the company of another person. In general, the bottle of soju should be held with both hands whilst pouring. The beverage can be found in supermarkets and convenience stores for as little as AU$1.50 per bottle (around a tenth of the price of the product in Australia). In U.S trade tonight, the latest reading on the number of new cars sold will be released. These figures are released on a monthly basis and are expressed in an annualised reading. This means it compares this month’s reading to the corresponding month in the previous year. The market is currently expecting that around 12 million new cars were sold in the U.S over the past 12 months. In May, General Motors Corp was the leader in terms of car sales in the U.S after selling around 221,000 vehicles over the month, Ford came in second place selling 191,000, Chrysler was third with 115,000 units sold and Toyota came in fourth place with over 108,000 cars sold. The 4 leaders just mentioned were followed by Honda, Nissan and Volkswagen.

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