The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) was hammered on Wednesday with the main bourse falling as low as 5,207 points during the session. Unfortunately, further losses could be on the cards again today with the Sydney Futures Exchange pointing to a 16-point drop at the opening bell.
Here's a quick recap:
- FTSE 100 (UK): down 1.04%
- DAX (Germany): down 1.47%
- CAC 40 (France): down 1.24%
- Dow Jones (USA): down 0.43%
- NASDAQ (USA): down 0.93%
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) will receive some attention today after the major bank announced its full-year results this morning. It reported a cash profit of $5.9 billion, down 18% on last year, and a final dividend of 80 cents per share.
Gold shares will likely be on the agenda today after the precious metal climbed 1.1% to more than US$1,300 an ounce overnight. That should bode well for Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX: BDR), EVOLUTION FPO (ASX: EVN) and Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX: RSG) which all soared on Wednesday.
Brent oil, on the other hand, shed more than 2% of its price and is fetching less than US$47 a barrel. That could weigh on businesses such as BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) today.
Elsewhere, Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) will likely receive some attention after its shares plunged more than 11% on Wednesday. Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) also dropped 4.7% and Vocus Communications Limited (ASX: VOC) was sold down.
Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX) also fell after its CEO sold a large parcel of shares in the business.
