\n\tBy Stephen Hogan, Senior Private Client Adviser, Equities\/Derivatives<\/p>\n
\tAustralian Market<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tThe Australian market (ASX<\/span> 200) closed <\/span>down -26.0 points or 0.50% to 5165.7<\/span><\/strong> <\/span>today. Our market has again opened strongly only to be sold off all afternoon. We hit a high of 5210.5 twice in the morning before dropping through the opening price just after <\/span>11:00<\/span><\/span>, a low of 2156.9 at <\/span>3:50<\/span><\/span> <\/span>and came back almost 10 points to close. Gold shares appeared to be driving the decline after the gold price <\/span><\/span>remains under pressure<\/span>,<\/span> <\/span>sliding below the mark of U.S.$1400 an ounce overnight, losing more than 2% and hitting its lowest price in nearly a month. Overnight the Dow Jones made another fresh high, gaining 60.44 points or 0.40%. Our Consumer Staples and Telecommunications sectors manage to rise in today's falling market, adding 1.74% and 1.17% respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\t <\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tShares in <\/span><\/span>Australian Infrastructure Fund, which is in the process of winding up,<\/span> <\/span>are down 94.5%. The company is trading <\/span><\/span>ex-dividend<\/span> <\/span>today, paying out $3.02 per share <\/span><\/span><\/span>after selling all of its assets<\/span>.<\/span> \n\t\t\tFormer ANZ<\/span> chief financial officer <\/span>Peter Marriott has joined the board of Westpac<\/span>. Marriott served as ANZ's<\/span> CFO for 15 years from 1997, and has worked in the financial sector for more than 30 years. He starts Westpac as a <\/span>non-executive director<\/span> <\/span>from <\/span>June 1<\/span><\/span>; He Marriott also sits on the board of market operator ASX<\/span> Ltd.<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\t \t\t\tTop Performers<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\tSeek Limited ((SEK<\/span>)) up $0.84 or 8.23% to $11.05<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tWhitehaven<\/span> Coal Limited ((WHC<\/span>)) up $0.105 or 4.86% to $2.265<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tCaltex<\/span> Australia Limited ((CTX<\/span>)) up $1.04 or 4.73% to $23.03<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tNufarm<\/span> Limited ((NUF<\/span>)) up $0.195 or 4.62% to $4.415<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tFKP<\/span> Property Group Limited ((FKP<\/span>)) up $0.065 or 4.51% to $1.505<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tBottom Performers<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\tAustralia Infrastructure Fund Limited ((AIX)) down -$3.008 or -95.59% to $0.172<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tVirgin Australia Holdings Limited ((VAH<\/span>)) down -$0.065 or -14.13% to $0.395<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAusdrill<\/span> Limited ((ASL<\/span>)) down -$0.175 or -11.51% to $1.345<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tKingsgate<\/span> Consolidated Limited ((KCN<\/span>)) down -$0.205 or -11.17% to $1.63<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEvolution Mining Limited ((EVN<\/span>)) down -$0.10 or -10.70% to $0.835<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tOur Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\tNasty day! After a fairly decent start to the session we really fell off into the close. It was not for a select few such as CBA<\/span> today then we may have been down close to 50 points and it would have been a real bloodbath. Every time it looks like the market might be happy to take on some risk it gets put to be very quickly and sold off.<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t <\/span><\/p>\n \n\tI would expect some more weakness here over the next week or two as most charts I am looking at across the board look like suggest we are going to see some selling. However I would add on a positive note as per our previous comments that downside on the overall market is limited in my opinion.<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t(For a more comprehensive summary of last night’s market action see FNArena’s<\/span><\/a> Overnight Report.) \n\tRe-published with permission. Views expressed are not by association FNArena's<\/span> (see our disclaimer).<\/em><\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\tAUD is currently trading at <\/span>$0.9833, <\/span>down -$0.0063<\/span><\/strong><\/span> <\/span>against the USD.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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