Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon 11/19/13

AFTERNOON REPORT
(5pm AEDT)

The Australian share market closed lower again today, despite the US Dow Jones Index hitting a record high overnight.

US stocks however did come off earlier highs, when influential investor Carl Icahn warned he believed the current bull-run in the US equity markets was unsustainable.

Locally every sector closed in the red except for the defensive health care stocks, with energy and industrial players among the worst performers.

Seven Group (SVW) held its AGM today, telling shareholders it is looking at different sectors such as agribusiness and water for growth following a downturn in its mining services business WesTrac. SVW shares today rose 1.1 per cent to $7.55.

Agribusiness Ruralco (RHL) reported its annual result today, booking an annual net profit of $5.7 million, which was down 59 per cent on last year's result. The Hobart-based company says rain will help it return to profit levels of 2011 and 2012. RHL shares today rose 3.1 per cent to $3.31.

In economic news, minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia were released today. CommSec believes the RBA has retired to the sidelines. We believe that it will be reluctant to cut rates again unless global or domestic factors unexpectedly weaken. The election is out of the road; there are signs that confidence levels are lifting; the housing market is strengthening; and the Chinese economy is improving.

A total of 1.8 billion shares changed hands today, worth $4.1 billion. 366 were up, 618 were down and 326 were unchanged.

At 4.30pm AEDT the SFE 200 Futures Index was at 5367, down 31pts.

No major economic data is due tonight in the US.

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