ASX falls but energy gains
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended lower, following subdued trading on Wall Street.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.11% to end at 7,769.7, with six out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
The worst performing sector was industrials (-0.61%), followed by financials (-0.36%), and telecommunication services and utilities (both -0.24%).
Helia Group shares tumbled 21.09% and was the worst performer across the ASX 200 after it was advised by the Commonwealth Bank of potential changes to its lenders mortgage insurance contract.
QBE shares fell 4.74% after announcing its decision to start the closure of its North America middle-market business.
Shares in Beach Energy also fell 4.58% after Jarden and Macquarie analysts downgraded the company following its plans to slash costs.
Fletcher Building closed 0.74% lower after it announced that it would divest half its Fiji construction business.
Elsewhere, Energy Resources of Australia gained 2.5% after the Takeovers Panel declined to conduct proceedings on an application by Zentree Investments, which outlined concerns regarding a future equity raise that could see Rio Tinto acquiring ERA.
The best performing sector was energy, up 0.85%, followed by consumer staples (0.46%) and consumer discretionary (-0.07%). Woodside (1.23%) and Santos (0.95%) both gained.
Dexus finished 1.71% higher despite outlining a combined $40 million in writedowns for its Dexus’ Industria REIT and Convenience Retail REIT. However, the former fell 3.61% while the latter gained 1.87%.
Downer EDI increased 0.43% after announcing that it had been awarded a $100 million contract by NBN.
The context: Thursday will see Guzman y Gomez float on the ASX with an offer size of $335 million.
Offshore, the Bank of England will make its next monetary policy decision while the latest US unemployment figures will be released.
