Australian Stock Market Report –Afternoon December 9, 2014

An office worker talks on his phone as he looks the stock board at the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) building in central Sydney June 15, 2012. Asian shares edged up on Friday, and the euro held most of the previous session's gains, as nervous investors took comfort from plans for coordinated action by major central banks to stabilise markets if Sunday's election in Greece results in turmoil. Reuters

 Australian shares extended their losses this afternoon to finish near today's lows and posting the most significant falls since last Monday. The ASX 200 Index closed 1.7 per cent softer to 5282.7.

 All sectors slumped however the 4 per cent fall in the oil price resulted in the biggest losses in the energy industry. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (a measure of oil and gas sector performance) fell by 4.8 per cent while the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (a measure of mining sector moves) slumped by 3.1 per cent.

 Santos (STO) shares slumped by 7.2 per cent after the oil and gas producer was downgraded by rating agency Standard & Poor's. Despite STO saying that its "...financial position [will be] unaffected by S&P rating change", investors weren't convinced and pushed the stocks lower.

 Transpacific (TPI) slumped by 2.2 per cent after the waste management firm said it will take an $18-$20m hit to profit following the grounding of its fleet in August.

 Qantas (QAN) was one of today's biggest movers wiping out all of its 5 per cent gains this afternoon to finish down by 0.4 per cent. QAN expects to return to profitability this half and is still up 24 per cent in December.

 National Australia Bank (NAB) fell by 1.1 per cent, ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) lost 1.6 per cent while CBA and Westpac (WBC) both slipped by at least 0.5 per cent. NAB became the second major bank to expect rate cuts in 2015. ANZ and CBA are still forecasting rate hikes in 2015.

 The results of the NAB Business Survey showed that business confidence has fallen away while conditions have also worsened in November. The ANZ/Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence index fell by 3.1 per cent last week; with consumers feeling a little more negative as we approach Christmas.

 Volume picked up this afternoon with 1.7bn shares traded worth $6.1bn. 249 stocks rose, 699 stocks fell and 322 finished flat.

 The Australian dollar weakened to the lowest level since June 2010 buying US$0.823, ¥98.9, €0.668 and £0.526.

 In the US tonight, no major market moving economic news or events are scheduled. Weekly housing finance figures, wholesale sales and the Federal Budget will be the only bits of data released.

 In Europe, trade balances in France and Germany together with manufacturing and production reports in the UK will be in focus. European Union finance ministers will be meeting in Brussels at the ECOFIN meetings to discuss a range of financial issues.

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