The Reserve Bank of Australia elected to keep interest rates on hold at 1.5% today, which may have weighed on the market slightly in the afternoon. Local shares ended the day lower, although they're still sitting in the black for the week so far.
Here's a quick recap:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down 0.3% to 5413 points
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) down 0.3% to 5510 points
- AUD/USD at US 76.24 cents
- Iron Ore at US$59.24 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
- Gold at US$1,326.43 an ounce
- Brent oil at US$47.72 a barrel
While they provided the fuel for Monday's rally, the banks mostly weighed on today's performance. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares fell 0.8% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) lost 0.3%.
The miners, on the other hand, continued to rise. BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) jumped another 1.1%, while South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) lifted 3.9%.
Perhaps surprisingly, gold miners weren't so strong, despite a lift in the gold price overnight. Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX: BDR) fell 2% and 4.9%, respectively.
Estia Health Ltd (ASX: EHE) recovered 5.4% following yesterday's meltdown. Japara Healthcare Ltd (ASX: JHC) also rebounded 6%, while Regis Healthcare Limited (ASX: REG) was up 3.5%.
Whitehaven Coal Limited (ASX: WHC) was one of the market's best for the day, rising 8.5%. Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL), on the other hand, fell 3.3%.
Here are Tuesday's top stories:
