Originally published by CMC Markets
After a muted finish to the trading week on Friday night local trading is quiet ahead of a US holiday tonight. Steady interest rate and commodity markets provide a stable background to the session. Individual company results are the major influence and several disappointments have the share market in the red.
While there are no signs of investor panic an overall lack of enthusiasm sees most sectors in the red. Telcos and IT are the exception, but the focus remains on individual stocks as the market enters the second main week of corporate reporting.
The Industrial sector is lagging the market, dragged down 2% by a shocker from logistics group Brambles. Net profit halved. Write downs accounted for a sizeable chunk of the slippage, but a decline in North American pallet earnings clouds the outlook. Brambles Ltd (AX:BXB) shares are down 9% on the news. Even worse, drilling services group Worley Parsons Ltd (OTC:WYGPY) is down 12% after reporting a loss for the first half, driven by further re-structuring costs and tepid demand