“BHP Brasil will consider the decision by the Federal Court once it has been served with the decision to assess implications and any next steps,” the statement said.
BHP cited media commentary reports that said the court found there was no evidence to support any causal link between the company and the dam’s failures.
Supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles remain in the green, up 0.5, and 1 per cent respectively, despite each company notifying the market that class action proceedings against the duo have been commenced in the Federal Court of Australia.
Both Woolworths and Coles said they would defend the proceedings commenced by Gerard Malouf & Partners, which relate to allegations first brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in September, which alleges the supermarkets misled consumers through discount pricing claims on hundreds of common supermarket products.
Thousands of customers are demanding they be reimbursed as part of the class action, which is suing for damages on behalf of up to 13.5 million Woolworths and Coles loyalty customers.
The healthcare sector has extended its declines, down 2.1 per cent, and is positioned as the only sector in the red, with shares from CSL sinking 2.8 per cent.
Some of the major banks have reversed early losses to help push all four of the big four banks into the green. CBA, the nation’s biggest lender and the biggest stock on the Australian sharemarket, is up 0.7 per cent. Westpac and ANZ have both made gains, each up 1.1 per cent and National Australia Bank added up 0.3 per cent.
Overnight on Wall Street, US stocks slipped Thursday as the market’s big burst following Donald Trump’s election continued to cool.
Credit: IG
The S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent, though it’s still near its all-time high set on Monday. The Dow Jones dropped 207 points, or 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.6 per cent.
Cisco Systems’ 2.1 per cent drop weighed on the market, even though the tech giant reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors may have been looking for it to raise its financial forecasts more, analysts suggested.
The stock market broadly has been rising faster than corporate profits, which raises the volume on criticism from sceptics that it’s gotten too expensive. The S&P 500 is still up nearly 25 per cent for the year so far, on top of last year’s leap of 24.2 per cent.
Some of the stocks that got the biggest bump from Trump’s election also lost momentum. Tesla fell 5.8 per cent for just its second loss since Election Day. It’s run by Elon Musk, who has become a close Trump ally.
Stocks also felt the effects of swinging yields in the bond market following the latest hotter-than-expected economic reports and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The Fed just cut its main interest rate earlier this month for the second time this year to ease the pressure on the economy, and investors are eager for more.
But short-term yields climbed after Powell said, “The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates. The strength we are currently seeing in the economy gives us the ability to approach our decisions carefully.”
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On Wall Street, Super Micro Computer tumbled 11.4 per cent for one of the worst losses in the S&P 500 after telling US regulators it needs more time to file its financial statements for the latest quarter, which ended in September.
Helping to keep Wall Street’s losses in check was The Walt Disney Co., which rose 6.2 per cent after the entertainment giant reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
In stock markets abroad, European indexes rose, including a 1.4 per cent jump for Germany’s DAX.
With AP