AGL 41.00 Increased By ▲ 2.46 (6.38%)
AIRLINK 127.50 Decreased By ▼ -2.00 (-1.54%)
BOP 6.24 Increased By ▲ 0.63 (11.23%)
CNERGY 4.11 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (6.48%)
DCL 8.37 Decreased By ▼ -0.36 (-4.12%)
DFML 40.55 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-2.9%)
DGKC 87.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.95 (-1.08%)
FCCL 34.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-2.57%)
FFBL 66.28 Decreased By ▼ -1.07 (-1.59%)
FFL 10.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-1.04%)
HUBC 108.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-0.24%)
HUMNL 14.47 Decreased By ▼ -0.19 (-1.3%)
KEL 4.67 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.68%)
KOSM 7.30 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (5.04%)
MLCF 42.56 Increased By ▲ 0.91 (2.18%)
NBP 60.65 Increased By ▲ 1.05 (1.76%)
OGDC 178.30 Decreased By ▼ -4.70 (-2.57%)
PAEL 25.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.60 (-2.29%)
PIBTL 6.05 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.34%)
PPL 145.39 Decreased By ▼ -1.31 (-0.89%)
PRL 24.53 Increased By ▲ 0.92 (3.9%)
PTC 16.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.41 (-2.48%)
SEARL 69.90 Increased By ▲ 1.60 (2.34%)
TELE 7.19 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.55%)
TOMCL 36.10 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (0.42%)
TPLP 7.83 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.25%)
TREET 15.59 Increased By ▲ 1.39 (9.79%)
TRG 50.32 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-0.26%)
UNITY 27.00 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (0.93%)
WTL 1.24 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (2.48%)
BR100 9,780 Decreased By -25.7 (-0.26%)
BR30 29,520 Decreased By -158.1 (-0.53%)
KSE100 91,981 Decreased By -323.2 (-0.35%)
KSE30 28,665 Decreased By -175.2 (-0.61%)

Australian shares ended flat on Thursday as losses in financial stocks effectively cancelled out the gains made by materials stocks on higher iron ore prices. The S&P/ASX200 index fell 0.213 points to 5,986.20. The 'Big Four' banks were in the red, shedding between 0.2 percent to 0.7 percent. "Index-selling seems to be driving the index lower. The concern is that the market is rejecting the 6,000 level as a whole and so we're seeing some protection strategies being put in place," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.
"Financials make up half of the index, so it is index selling that's hurting them and driving them lower." The Australian financial index was down 0.4 percent tracking falls in Wall Street's S&P 500 financial index. Consumer stocks added to the falls with A2 Milk Company Ltd reversing early gains from a record high to close 4.2 percent lower.
Beverage maker Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd shed 4.9 percent after Managing Director Alison Watkins said on Wednesday that an A$40 million ($30.48 million) investment to accelerate growth in Australian beverage sales would take a toll on 2018 earnings. Materials stocks offered some respite, though, with mining heavyweights BHP Billiton and South32 Ltd accounting for most of the gains on the benchmark.
South32 gained 2.1 percent, while BHP extended gains to a third session and rose 1.3 percent and rival Rio Tinto added 0.4 percent. Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.8 percent to 3,824 yuan a tonne on Thursday. The most-traded iron ore for January delivery contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 4.1 percent.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.04 percent or 3.04 points to 8,101.95. Official data on Thursday showed that quarterly sales volumes rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent, well below the 1.8 percent jump seen in the previous quarter.
Consumer staples were the biggest drag on the index, with A2 Milk Company Ltd reversing from a record high to close down 3 percent while dairy giant Fonterra shed 0.2 percent.

Comments

Comments are closed.