Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon 8/26/13

AFTERNOON REPORT
(5.15pm AEST)

The Australian share market kick-started the trading week on a slightly positive note, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) adding 0.2 per cent.

Gold stocks were among the best performers as the gold price continued to rise in Asian trade on hopes the US Federal Reserve may delay the tapering of its bond buying program. Shares in Newcrest Mining (NCM) added almost 5 per cent to close at $13.70.

On the reporting calendar today, drilling company Boart Longyear (BLY) reported a half year net loss of $329M as it announced it is struggling with a slowdown in mining investment. The result was down on BLY's $98M profit for the same period last year. BLY shares fell 11.7 per cent today to $0.49.

Caltex (CTX) saw its 1H profit fall 13 per cent due to the fall in the Aussie dollar and a pipeline outage. A net profit of $171M for the six months to June 30 was reported, down from $197M in the same period last year. CTX shares fell 0.1 per cent to $18.93.

Health insurer nib Holding (NHF) reported a slightly smaller net profit of $67.2M and a 15 per cent increase in FY13 revenue to $1.32B. The net profit was impacted by a one off cost, relating to the acquisition of the New Zealand insurer Tower. NHF shares closed down 0.5 per cent to $2.12.

A number of companies traded without rights to their dividends today including Suncorp Group (SUN), WorleyParsons (WOR) and Woodside Petroleum (WPL). SUN shares fell 2.1 per cent to $12.37, WOR was down 4. Per cent to $22.08 and WPL shed 1.1 per cent to $37.78.

On the market overall, a total of 1.9 billion shares changed hands, worth $4.5 billion. 512 were up, 456 were down and 325 were unchanged.

At 4.30pm AEST the SFE 200 Futures Index was at 5126, up 19 points.

[Kick off your trading day with our newsletter]