The local share market finished flat on low volumes today as investors sat on the sidelines or beaches over the holiday period with little company news or macro data to drive markets.
Here's a quick recap:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) flat at 5,736 points
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) down 0.1% to 5,788 points
- AUD/USD up 0.2% to U.S. 72.2 cents
- Iron Ore flat at US$78 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
- Gold flat at US$1,160 an ounce
- Brent oil down 2% at US$55.90 a barrel
Among the S&P/ASX 200 Index of leading stocks the companies that performed best were generally those that performed poorly over the course of 2016. Telcos TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) and Vocus Communications Limited (ASX: VOC) lifted 2.8% and 1.5% respectively, with another recent laggard in Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX) climbing 3.3%.
One of the worst performers among the S&P/ASX 200 was data centre business Nextdc Ltd (ASS: NXT), which dropped 3.5% as short sellers start to circle the business.
Elsewhere, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) followed up yesterday's rise with a 1% gain today on the news that it will raise $1.8 billion by selling its interests in a Chinese bank. While the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) climbed 0.8% as banks around the world continue to enjoy renewed investor support.
