Market Report: Lacklustre day as anxieties about U.S economy return

The Australian share market closed slightly down today after a lacklustre session in which investors kept to the sidelines following weak economic data out of the U.S overnight, while anticipation of a federal election being called in the next few days contributed to the subdued mood.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 shed just under half a percent to close at 4442.6 points, with the All Ords giving up as much to close at 4456.7 points. Resources and banks were the main drag on the market, while the transport infrastructure sector was up.

Good news locally and in the region provided some cause for optimism ahead, namely higher than expected Australian consumer confidence figures and new economic data showing that the Chinese economy isn’t slowing as rapidly as some had feared.

The S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare index closed slightly down today at 8110.1 points, or 1.44 percent on the week following a mixed bag of results.

Winner of the week was cancer specialist ChemGenex, which saw its shares surge 33 percent yesterday after announcing that the FDA had invited it to make an NDA (new drug application) for its leukaemia drug Omapro. However, the stock fell back 5.5 percent cent to $0.345 today as investors went in for a bit of profit taking.

Loser of the week was Sigma Pharmaceuticals, which saw a further 11.58 percent shaved its share price today after yesterday announcing a further earnings downgrade due to poor sales from its generics business. The company is currently the target of an acquisition offer from South African generics producer Aspen Pharmacare Holdings, which was recently revised from $060 to $055. Sigma shares close today at $0.42.

Looking at the majors CSL lost 0.76 percent today after announcing that it planned to spend $235 million on a new biotech facility in Melbourne. Ear specialists Cochlear gained 1.12 percent with ResMed unchanged.