Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon 11/11/13

EVENING REPORT
(5pm AEDT)

Despite a close to 0.5 per cent improvement in very early trade, the Australian sharemarket steadily eased from around 10.30am (AEDT) onwards and slid into negative territory from around lunchtime. The banks were the worst performers, with ANZ slumping by 1.74 per cent.

This was despite the largely positive Chinese economic data points released last Friday and Saturday; a significantly firmer US jobs report and 1 per cent gains in US markets.

On the economic front, the 4.4 per cent rise in housing finance (number of home loans issued in September) had a negligible impact on the broader sharemarket; however the Australian dollar did strengthen against the greenback around its release. CommSec Economist, Savanth Sebastian said that "The housing sector is fast becoming the shining light of the Australian economy. And with interest rates low, population rising and housing affordability still attractive, housing is best placed to take over the leadership role from mining as the nation's key economic driver. The lift in housing approvals, rising new home sales, higher house prices will support confidence and provide policymakers with a degree of encouragement moving into 2014."

A weekly report by the Australian Institute of Petroleum showed that the national average price of unleaded petrol fell by 3.7c/l to a five month low of 146.2c. Petrol prices are likely to continue falling over next fortnight.

At the close, 2.16 billion shares changed hands, worth $4.15 billion. 418 stocks finished higher, 517 closed in the red while 363 were unchanged.

Looking ahead, no major economic news is scheduled for release in the US while it will also be a quiet session in Europe. Bank holidays in the US, Canada and France will keep investors a little subdued. Despite it being Veterans Day in the US, stock markets will be trading normally. The German central bank's president will be delivering a talk at 4am (AEDT) Tuesday morning.

Tomorrow in Australia, lending finance, credit and debit card lending together with NAB's monthly business confidence survey will all be issued. The more confident businesses generally are, the more likely they will be to hire additional staff.

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