Australian Stock Market Report –Afternoon 11/20/13

EVENING REPORT
(5pm AEDT)

The Australian sharemarket lost ground once again, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) easing by 0.8 per cent. This takes the losses for the week so far to 1.7 per cent. The OECD cut its growth forecasts for the Australian economy from 3.2 per cent to 2.6 per cent for 2014. The DOW fell back from 16,000 points, after cracking through on Monday.

All sectors finished in the red, with the utilities the only exemptions. Energy stocks fell most - both Woodside Petroleum and Santos falling by more than 1 per cent.

There were a handful of companies hosting Annual General Meetings (AGMs) today including Virgin Australia (VAH), Myer (MYR) and Kathmandu (KMD).

Virgin (VAH) slipped by 2.56 per cent, taking its losses this calendar year to 8 per cent. Chief Executive, John Borghetti said that QAN's campaign against foreign ownership of the airline is absurd. Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Etihad are looking at increasing their stakes in VAH to 73 per cent. QAN has foreign ownership capped at 49 per cent.

Myer (MYR) finished flat; however is up 31 per cent since January 2013. The department store owner said it's cautiously optimistic about the future and is quite well placed to benefit from improving confidence. It (like many other local retailers) expressed its concern with the GST exemption for international online retailers currently in place. There is currently a global search on to find a suitable replacement for MYR's current CEO, Bernie Brooks who steps down next August. MYR posted a 9 per cent fall in FY13 profit to $127.2 million.

Kathmandu (KMD) slumped by 2.6 per cent today; however is still up by 109 per cent this calendar year. KMD said that its sales are rising (in line with market forecasts) - sales over the past four months were up 0.9 per cent to NZ$70.9 million. KMD opened two new stores in Australia (Adelaide and Melbourne) and another in Auckland.

At the close, 1.7b shares changed hands, worth $4.68b. 386 stocks finished higher, 536 lost ground and 353 were unchanged.

The FOMC minutes, home sales, consumer prices and retail sales will all be out in the US tonight.

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