- The ASX 200 finished a very lack lustre day : 1 point lower to 4,879. For the week, the index finished down 73 points (-1.5%)
- The major news was the loss reported by Woolworths (WOW). Posting a loss of $973m, their first loss for 23 years, after a first half write down of Masters by $1.9b. The stock plummeted to a new low of $20.50 (-6.4%), before climbing back to finish the day up 45c (+2.1%) to $22.34, as the short sellers scrambled to buy back. Further, WOW announced their decision on a new CEO after scouring the world unsuccessfully. They promoted the only internal candidate, Mr Brad Banducci to the top job.
- Following on from the very bad news of Dick Smith (DSH) stores, Harvey Norman (HVN) reported a 30.7% rise in after tax profits of $185.5m for the six months to December 31st 2015. The stock finished down 8c (-1.7%) to $4.53.
- One of the worst performing sectors for the day was resources. RIO Tinto (RIO) was badly hit overnight in London (-3.6%) and this morning it was announced that Moody’s had downgraded RIO’s credit rating to Baa1 (Outlook Negative). The stock fell badly to a low of $39.74 and finished the day down just off this level at $40.00 (-3.2%). This in turn put the dampeners on BHP Billiton (BHP) which finished down 41c (-2.6%) to $15.59 after a low of $15.38.
* Watch out for the weekend report tomorrow.
Best Sector –Telcos
Worst Sector – Energy
Winners
Breville Group Ltd (BRG) +$0.83, or (+12.3%) to $7.58
Arrium Ltd (ARI) +$0.001, or (+6.3%) to $0.017
SEEK Ltd (SEK) +$0.95, or (+6.5%) to $15.33
Newcrest Mining Ltd (NCM) +$0.66, or (+3.9%) to $17.75
Losers
Perpetual Ltd (PPT) -$1.88, or (-4.4%) to $40.85
OZ Minerals Ltd (OZL) -$0.26, or (-5%) to $4.97
Sandfire Resources NL (SFR) -$0.29, or (-4.9%) to $5.66
Village Roadshow Ltd (VRL) -$0.40, or (-6.8%) to $5.53
All figures contained from sources believed to be accurate. MarketMatters does not make any representation of warranty as to the accuracy of the figures and disclaims any liability resulting from any inaccuracy. Prices as at 25/02/2016. 4.51PM.
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