Local shares fell today, dragged down by falls on Wall Street overnight and a plunging gold price.
Here's a quick recap:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down 0.6% to 5,452 points
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) down 0.6% to 5,537 points
- AUD/USD at US 76.34 cents
- Iron Ore at US$55.86 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
- Gold at US$1,274.17 an ounce
- Brent oil at US$50.80 a barrel
There is no tip-toing around the pain felt by gold investors today.
After gold prices slipped more than 3% overnight, OceanaGold Corporation (ASX: OGC) plunged 13.5%, EVOLUTION FPO (ASX: EVN) fell 7.9%, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) dropped 10% and Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) lost 5.1%.
The losses were by no means limited to those stocks from the sector.
Telecommunications giant TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) fell another 2.2% today, with Vocus Communications Limited (ASX: VOC) also down 2.6%.
Shares of Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) fell 1%, making it one of the worse performing blue chips for the day, while Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) fell 1.1%.
Aged care operators Japara Healthcare Ltd (ASX: JHC) and Regis Healthcare Ltd (ASX: REG) were also slammed 7.7% and 4.8%. The heavy declines came after Estia Health Ltd (ASX: EHE) entered a trading halt as it prepares what could be a disappointing first quarter trading update.
Whitehaven Coal Limited (ASX: WHC), on the other hand, gained 0.8%. Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN) also rose 2.2% while QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) lifted 3.4%.
Here are Wednesday's top stories:
- Why these gold shares are getting crushed today
- TPG Telecom Ltd share price sinks again, should you be selling now?
- Should you buy any telco shares right now?
- Estia Health Ltd in trading halt and it doesn't look good
- Is Medibank Private Ltd a bargain after dropping 27% from its high?
- Google releases new Pixel phones
