Australian shares a tad higher before Brexit vote

Announcement posted by de2 Communications 23 Jun 2016

23 June 2016: SYDNEY -- Australian shares finished higher today on a relatively quiet day at the market on the lead up to the UK referendum.

“It was a quiet day for the local share market, with traders keeping their powder dry ahead of the UK vote,” said Chris Conway, Head of Research at the Australian Stock Report.

The market ended slightly higher, remaining in the black for most of the session despite two early dips into the red.

According to Conway, the miners shone brightest, with BHP Billiton (BHP) up 1.8% and Rio Tinto (RIO) up 2.7%.

The banks ended flat, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) and Westpac (WBC) shed 0.1% each, and National Australia Bank (NAB) fell 0.2%. ANZ Baking Group (ANZ) clawed out a 0.2% gain.

Wesfarmers (WES), which owns Coles supermarkets, enjoyed buying support, adding 1.1%, while Woolworths (WOW) continued its slide, falling 0.7%.

The ASX 200 closed up 10 points (+0.2%) to 5281.

Conway added that the SPI remained in a tight range this afternoon, which is totally unsurprising.

“No one is willing to take on any risk, in either direction, ahead of the UK referendum. At this stage, we have nothing more to add as the financial world collectively holds its breath awaiting the outcome,” he said.

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