Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon January 6, 2015

A worker walks at the Nahr Bin Umar field, north of Basra, southeast of Baghdad, November 16, 2014. OPEC producer Iraq expects to base its 2015 budget on an oil price of $80 per barrel, Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mehdi told parliament on Monday. Picture taken November 16, 2014. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY BUSINESS)

Local shares slide amid global selloff

 Local shares were hammered today following heavy falls on European and US bourses overnight. Concerns about weak demand have been heightened, after the price of Brent Crude dipped below US$50 a barrel for the first time in five-and-a-half-years. Investors were also spookedovernight amid speculation Greece may exit the Eurozone.The All Ords (XAO) improved slightly from the day's lows to close down 83 points or 1.5 percent to 5,346, while the ASX 200 (XJO) dropped 85 points or 1.5 percent to 5,364.8.

 The Energy sector was by far the biggest loser, plummetin5.4 percent as investors dumped oil stocks. Woodside Petroleum (WPL) fell 4.9 percent to $36.46, Santos (STO)tumbled 8.6 percent to $7.55. The weaker crude price helped the airlines with Qantas (QAN) gaining 4.4 percent to $2.61.

 The Materials sector also suffered significant losses, falling 2.6 percent as the price of copper touched four year lows. BHP Billiton (BHP) retreated 4.6 percent to $28.11.

 Lynas Corp (LYC) dropped 8.8 percent to 6.2 cents afterChina removed quotas limiting exports of rare earth minerals. The value of rare earths surged in 2010 when China cut its export quota by 40 percent from the preceding year. However, exports now frequently fall short of maximum levels under the quota system.

 Investors have fled to the safety of gold, with the precious metal hitting a three-week high overnight. Newcrest Mining (NCM) climbed 2.4 percent to $11.73, and Northern Star (NST) jumped 5.7 percent to $1.67.

 In economic news, Australia's trade deficit lifted from $877 million in October to $925 million in November. It was the eighth consecutive monthly deficit. Car sales data was also released, showing that in December, 96,809 new motor vehicles were sold - a record for a December month. Over

2014, 1,113,224 new vehicles were sold - the second highest calendar year result behind 2013.

 The Australian dollar rallied against the Greenback after the release of the better-than-expected trade data. It's buying 81.29 US cents.

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