AUSTRALIAN STOCKS GO NOWHERE: Here's what you need to know
Australian stocks closed the session and the week near where they started.
Today’s scoreboard:
- ASX 200: 5,724.60 +10.08 +0.18%
- All Ordinaries: 5,786.10 +9.85 +0.17%
- AUD/USD: 0.7937 -0.0009 -0.11%
The local market cruised to a flat close. The ASX200 was 0.3% lower at the close than the same time last week.
The banks were in positive territory, including the ANZ, up 0.6% to $29.59, except for the Commonwealth which dropped 0.4% to $75.46.
CSL was 1.9% higher at $131.05.
Harvey Norman fell 4.7% to close at $3.91, continuing a fall started yesterday when the retailer announced strong annual profits but weaker dividends.
Top stories:
1. The RBA looks set to hike interest rates. That’s the view of HSBC’s Australian economics team, led by Paul Bloxham, who say that a rebound in economic growth will lead to a pickup in wage and underlying inflation in the coming quarters.
2. Someone bought $500 million in Australian government bonds in a single trade. An Australian government bond issue has, for the second time in two months, been purchased in full by just one buyer.
3. Jetpacks suspended. The ASX has suspended Martin Aircraft, the maker of the world’s first commercial jetpack, from trading.
4. Slater and Gordon just lost another $546.8 million. And the first ASX-listed law firm comes under the control of new hedge fund owners.
5. The Commonwealth Bank money laundering scandal has gone international. The bank failed to monitor billions of dollars of transactions in its offshore businesses in the US, Asia and Europe, according to a confidential internal report.
6. NBN connections will peak this year. NBN will make ready another 3 million homes this year as the national internet broadband service heads toward being a self-supporting business.
7. Making clothes out of beer. A Perth-based textiles company has announced plans to list on the Australian stock market.
8. ONE BOTTLE IN SEPTEMBER. We asked Vinomofo to match a wine to every team in the AFL finals.
9. PODCAST: Missiles, the Amazon effect, Trump, tax, CAPEX, and Australia's latest cricketing collapse.
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