CLOSE Aussie shares recovered most of their morning losses, aided by energy shares. The rebound, though, was not enough to avoid clocking up a fresh five-year closing low for the main share indexes. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ended the day down 0.6%, or 19.6 points, at 3331.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost another 0.6%, or 19.1 points, to 3285. Both indexes have not ended a trading day this low since February 17, 2004. Energy stocks advanced 1.9%, while materials sub-index lost 0.9% and financial shares fell 1.1% The Australian dollar was lower against the US dollar recovered losses overnight to trade recently at 64.84 US cents. It was also buying 50.89 euro cents and 61.66 yen. "The fact that we opened down about 1.2% and then rallied to be down only 40 points, that's with weak markets in Asia as well, it's a pretty good effort.'' No shocks Mr Growns said the local reporting season was "better than expected'' by which he means, "there were no major shocks''. Stocks are trading with a forward price-to-earnings ratio that expects 30% to 40% downgrades to profit, he said, showing investors were building in "a lot of potential bad news''. Miners fall BHP Billiton lost 34 cents, or 1.2%, to $28.97, while Rio Tinto was down 22 cents, or 0.5%, at $46.65. BlueScope Steel was down 23 cents, or 8.3%, at $2.55, while Fortescue Metals remains in a trading halt. OZ Minerals was down 2.5 cents, or 4.1%, at 58.5 cents. Among the major banks, Westpac was down 7 cents, or 0.4%, at $16.25, while the Commonwealth Bank was down 33 cents, or 1.1%, at $29.25. NAB fell 24 cents, or 1.3%, to $17.56 and ANZ was up 17 cents, or 1.4%, at $12.63. Investment bank Macquarie Group was down 89 cents, or 4.5%, at $19.01 and Suncorp Metway was down 24 cents, or 4.8%, at $4.75 after this morning announcing a 33% fall in profit. QBE Insurance was down 4 cents, or 0.2%, at $20.36 and IAG was up 12 cents, or 3.6%, at $3.46. AMP was up 4 cents, or 0.8%, at $4.79. Energy rises The energy sector was the best performer on the market, with Nymex crude oil futures last trading at $US38.00, down 44 US cents. Santos was up 1 cent at $14.50 and Woodside Petroleum rose 83 cents, or 2.5%, to $33.60. Oil Search, Papua New Guinea's largest oil producer, this morning announced a significant increase in profit and said it would cut back on exploration to conserve cash. Its shares were up 15 cents, or 3.3%, at $4.65. AGL Energy was up 26 cents, or 2%, at $13.41 and Macarthur Coal was down 11 cents, or 4.1%, at $2.55. Gold stocks mixed Gold was recently trading at $US987.45, a fall of $US10.18. The gold miners were mixed, with Lihir up 4 cents, or 1.2%, at $3.47 and Newcrest up 29 cents, or 0.9%, at $32.98. Among the retailers, Woolworths was up 25 cents at $28.18 and Wesfarmers was down 29 cents, or 1.6%, at $17.60. Harvey Norman was down 4 cents, or 1.9%, at $2.06 and David Jones was down 4 cents, or 1.7%, at $2.26. Shopping centre operator Westfield was down 22 cents, or 2.2%, at $9.60, Centro Retail Group was flat at 4.6 cents and Leighton was up 24 cents, or 1.3%, at $18.35. Building products group James Hardie was flat at $3.14. Beverage maker Coca-Cola Amatil fell 10 cents, or 1.1%, to $8.82 and Foster's Group lost 1 cent to $5.58. Bad news Among media stocks, News Corp fell 24 cents, or 2.3%, to $10.08 after it was announced this morning that second-in-command Peter Chernin had quit. Fairfax Media was down 2.5 cents, or 2.5%, at 99 cents. West Australian Newspapers was up 12 cents, or 2.9%, at $4.32 and Ten Network was down 1 cent, or 1.3%, at 76 cents. Telstra added 1 cent to $3.76, after the company said yesterday it want to break from the combative approach to the Federal Government that it was famous for under outgoing chief executive Sol Trujillo. The telecoms sector was up 0.3%. SingTel, owner of major rival Optus, was up 3 cents, or 1.28%, at $2.54. Among the airlines, Qantas was down 3 cents, or 1.8%, at $1.61 and Virgin Blue was up 3.5 cents, or 14.6%, at 27.5 cents. The health sector was up 0.4%, with CSL up 74 cents, or 2%, at $37.49, ResMed down 2 cents, or 0.3%, at $6.25 and Primary Health up 2 cents, or 0.4%, at $4.83. Gaming company Crown lost 14 cents, or 3%, to $4.61 and Aristocrat Leisure was up 13 cents, or 3.7%, at $3.60 after announcing a 60% fall in annual profit. ComputerShare led early gains in the info tech sector before sinking into the red. Its shares were down 4 cents, or 0.6%, at $7.19, while the sector was down 0.1%. Overseas markets On Wall Street overnight, the Dow hit 1997 levels as investors recognised that the many bailout packages and government stimulus programs announced would not prevent further losses and slumping earnings for companies. Also, expectations that beleaguered insurance giant American International Group will post record losses weighed on overseas markets. In Europe, London's FTSE100-share index was down 38.33 points, or 1%, at 3850.73, while Germany's DAX ended 78.21 points lower, or by 2%, at 3936.45 points. France's CAC40 index closed 0.82% lower, or by 22.68 points, at 2727.87. [email protected] BusinessDay, with AAP
