AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Highlights
- Australian share market sees a slight dip as property sector drags.
- Star Entertainment hits record low but ends session unchanged.
- Web Travel records significant gains during the week.
The Australian share market edged lower on Friday, paring earlier gains that had pushed the bourse to achieve record highs earlier in the week. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed at 8436.2, down slightly by 0.1%, or 8.1 points. The All Ordinaries remained flat. Over the week, however, the S&P/ASX 200 Index managed a modest gain of 0.5%.
The minor dip on Friday followed a record-breaking run earlier in the week, with the index setting new highs on both Monday and Thursday. Thursday's fresh peak at 8444.3 was driven by strong performances in key stocks, including CSL (ASX:CSL). On Friday, shares of CSL retreated by 1% to $282.22, contributing to the market's softer finish.
The property sector weighed heavily on the market, declining by 0.7% as the worst-performing segment of the day. Shares of Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) slipped by 0.8% to $37.91, while Scentre Group (ASX:SCG), the parent of Westfield, fell by 1.1% to $3.68. The sector's decline coincided with economic forecasts predicting a delay in interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia, with some economists revising their expectations for the first cut to May.
Key Stock Movements
In notable stock performances, Web Travel (ASX:WEB) surged by 4.9% on Friday, closing at $5.15. This capped off an impressive week for the travel company, which posted a 20% gain following its first earnings report since spinning off from Webjet. The company reported an underlying half-year net profit of $52.5 million, a promising start for the standalone entity.
On the other hand, Star Entertainment (ASX:SGR) faced challenging trading conditions, briefly slipping 3% to hit a record low of 18 cents during the session. This followed a downgrade to an underperform rating by analysts. Earlier in the week, the casino operator reported an earnings loss of $27 million for the first four months of the financial year, reflecting its ongoing financial struggles. Despite these pressures, the stock recovered late in the session, closing unchanged at 19.5 cents.
Australian markets took little direction from global cues, with Wall Street closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. However, US equity futures pointed higher, with S&P 500 futures gaining 0.3%, indicating a positive close to the week for US markets.
