Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon November 13, 2014

 Australian shares closed in the red for the fourth day with the ASX 200 slipping by 0.4 per cent. An improvement from the miners after a 3 per cent slump in just two sessions helped limit the losses.

 Chinese economic news was released at 4.30pm AEDT today and the results for retail spending, investment and production were mixed. Australian shares have not had a chance to react.

 The mining sector improved by 0.2 per cent today with the world's largest resource firm BHP Billiton (BHP) up 0.1 per cent. Iron ore miners Fortescue Metals (FMG) surged by 2.3 per cent after a 2 per cent slump on Wednesday. Rio Tinto (RIO) edged higher by 0.5 per cent.

 A number of companies held Annual General Meetings today including BlueScope Steel (BSL) and Ramsay Healthcare (RHC). Australia's biggest steelmaker BSL has confirmed 1H guidance for underlying profit around $89m and rose by 2.4 per cent on the ASX. Hospital group Ramsay Healthcare (RHC) finished flat despite reaffirming its guidance for annual net profit.

 Westpac Chief Executive Gail Kelly has announced her resignation after six years in the top job. Westpac (WBC) shares were the hardest hit of the banks, falling by 1.1 per cent. Commonwealth Bank (CBA) and National Bank (NAB) fell by around 0.7 per cent and ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) slipped by 0.5 per cent.

 The Australian dollar fell away this afternoon following comments by RBA assistant governor Christopher Kent that the central bank hasn't ruled out Aussie dollar intervention. The RBA still considers our currency to be a little too strong.

 Volume was average with 1.5bn shares traded worth $4.78bn. 419 stocks are up, 484 are down and 353 are unchanged.

 In the US tonight the results of a monthly report on consumer sentiment will be released together with the weekly report measuring the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits. US sentiment is currently at a seven-year high.

 Tomorrow News Corp, Lend Lease and Automotive Holdings will be holding their Annual General Meetings with investors. Markets in Japan will be closed for a holiday, quarterly GDP statistics will be released in Europe and the G20 meeting is due to commence on Saturday in Brisbane.

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