It was a bad day for the Australian share market as a whole today. Following the lead set by international markets on Friday, the main bourse ended the session deep in the red with a couple of big-name businesses leading the way down.
Here's a quick recap:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down 0.9% to 5661 points
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) down 0.9% to 5714 points
- AUD/USD at US 75.55 cents
- Iron Ore at US$83.34 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
- Gold at US$1,195.22 an ounce
- Brent oil at US$55.32 a barrel
Aconex Ltd (ASX: ACX) and Servcorp Limited (ASX: SRV) were both subjected to the market's wrath today after the pair released disappointing trading updates.
Aconex's share price was slammed 45.1% when it said it expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to rise just 10% to 32% for the 2017 financial year. It had previously forecast growth of between 62% and 84%.
Meanwhile, Servcorp was also slammed 19.2% after it said it expects full-year net profit before tax (NPBT) to be around $47 million, down from its previous guidance of 'not less than' $56 million.
Lithium miner Orocobre Ltd (ASX: ORE) also shed 6.9% following its December quarterly activities report.
Other losers for the day included Spotless Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SPO), down 5.1%, Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX), down 2.7%, and Primary Health Care Limited (ASX: PRY), down 2.8%.
EVOLUTION FPO (ASX: EVN), on the other hand, rose 1.4% after a small recovery in the gold price. QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) also edged higher after it responded to media speculation, putting an end to rumours that it was in discussions with Allianz about a potential takeover.
Here are Monday's top stories:
