Stocks of interest at the close of trade on the ASX on Wednesday, October 31:
ANZ – ANZ – up 27 cents, or 1.05 per cent, at $25.93
ANZ announced its full-year cash profit dropped five per cent to $6.5 billion, less than some analysts had forecast.
CBA – COMMONWEALTH BANK – up $1.07, or 1.57 per cent, at $69.23
Australia’s biggest lender confirmed it will sell Colonial First State global asset management to Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Trust for $4.13 billion.
QBE – QBE INSURANCE – up 26 cents, or 2.35 per cent, to $11.32
QBE Insurance Group Ltd has announced a streamlining of its operations whereby its Asia Pacific arm will no longer be a separate division.
ORG – ORIGIN ENERGY – up 12 cents, or 1.67 per cent, to $7.29
Origin Energy has seen a 12 per cent quarterly lift in oil and gas revenue despite production remaining steady, with the company attributing the rise to higher commodity prices.
BHP – BHP BILLITON – down one cent, or 0.03 per cent, to $32.21
RIO – RIO TINTO – down 10 cents, 0.13 per cent, to $76.40
Shares in the heavyweight miners were modest after industrial metals took a hit overnight.
