The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO)(ASX: XJO) and ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) finished lower on Friday.
Here's a quick recap of global markets:
- FTSE 100 (UK): flat
- DAX (Germany): down 0.4%
- CAC 40 (France): down 0.3%
- Dow Jones (USA): down 0.1%
- NASDAQ (USA): down 0.2%
Here are today's key stats:
- ASX 200: down 0.7%
- All Ordinaries: down 0.7%
- Australian dollar (A$) (AUDUSD): 73.82 cents
- Gold price: up 0.5%
- Copper: up 1.2%
- WTI Crude Oil: up 0.9%
The market started the day on an equal footing but fell as trading progressed. The worst performer of the day — and likely the week — were shares of Indian sandalwood producer, Quintis Ltd (ASX: QIN), which ended the day down another 35%. In total the company fell 72% this week after announcing the loss of a key contract — in December.
Also weighing on the market were shares of Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (ASX: DMP) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG). Further down the market,
Further down the market, Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP), formerly Burson, fell 5.5%, while a2 Milk Company Ltd (Australia) (ASX: A2M) declined 5%. While no material news was released by a2 Milk, it appears the company's CEO Geoffrey Babidge sold another 600,000 shares, taking his total sales to 5 million shares over the past 18 months.
Amongst the best-performing shares were those of mineral sands business, Iluka Resources Limited (ASX: ILU) which rose 4%.
Meanwhile, New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC), Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) and Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) were also buoyed by favourable movements in commodity prices.
Here are today's top stories:
