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July 30th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Posted
The share market closed flat after the head of the Reserve Bank left the door open for an interest rate cut next week.
Stocks dropped at the open as investors remain cautious before a two-day meeting of the US Federal Reserve.
They are waiting for more signals on when the US central bank will start to wind back its massive stimulus program.
But comments from RBA governor Glenn Stevens that weak inflation still gave the bank scope to cut rates brought some, though not much, life back to the market.
The All Ordinaries index lost two points to close at 5,026 while the ASX 200 rose by one point to close at 5,047.
Supermarket giant Woolworths was in focus after reporting a rise in full-year sales; its shares closed down 1.6 per cent at $33.22.
Woolworths says fuel discounting hurt its earnings, with annual revenue from fuel sales down 2.3 per cent compared with last year.
And shares in the owner of Coles, Wesfarmers, also struggled, down three-quarters of a per cent to $40.22.
Among other retail stocks, surfwear company Billabong had the biggest gain on the share market, up nearly 8 per cent to 42 cents.
But going the other way was the salary-packaging company McMillan Shakespeare. It was the worst performer on the ASX 200 index, down nearly 7 per cent to $8.75.
It has been sold down since the Federal Government announced changes to fringe benefits tax laws to fund its decision to scrap the fixed price on carbon.
The Australian dollar had dropped against most of its major counterparts after Bureau of Statistics figures showed the number of new home building approvals dropped unexpectedly.
It fell further after Mr Stevens’s comments.
Around 5.30pm (AEST) the dollar was near a two-week low against the greenback of 90.7 US cents and was also fetching 68.3 euro cents, 89 Japanese yen and 59.1 British pence.
Spot gold was slightly lower at $US1,325 an ounce as investors awaited the outcome of that Fed meeting, while West Texas crude oil closed slightly lower at $US104.58 a barrel and Singapore Tapis crude oil slipped to $US113.65 a barrel.
Topics:
stockmarket,
business-economics-and-finance,
currency,
retail,
money-and-monetary-policy,
company-news,
australia
Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-30/market-flat-after-door-left-open-for-rate-cut/4854246
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