Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO)(ASX: XJO) and ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) indices finished higher on Wednesday.
Here's a short recap of the Australian market:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 0.26% to 6,108.00
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 0.34% to 6,204.40
- AUD/USD at US 74 cents
- Gold at US$1,308.64 an ounce
- Brent Oil at US$76.49 a barrel
The big news of the day was Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) reporting its third quarter profit. The market seemed to agree with my assessment that it wasn't a great update, the share price went down 2.8% today.
Several shares reacted to the government's budget last night.
Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF) announced that it approved of the government's new retirement income product, the Challenger share price grew by 5.2%.
Aged care providers didn't react so well today after the government announced funding for more care at home. Regis Healthcare Ltd (ASX: REG) fell by 3.9% and Estia Health Ltd (ASX: EHE) dropped by 1.4%. However, Japara Healthcare Ltd (ASX: JHC) didn't move.
Investors didn't like the CSR Limited (ASX: CSR) result, even though it posted a decent increase in profit. The share price dropped by 4.4%.
Greencross Limited (ASX: GXL) shares were smashed 22% today after unveiling a trading update and several impairment charges for FY18.
Finally, Incitec Pivot Ltd (ASX: IPL) dropped by 5.3% today after investors worried about its future profit outlook.
Here are some of today's top stories:
