Australian stocks closed slightly lower.

Today’s scoreboard:

• ASX 200: 5,759.70 -1.69 -0.03%
• All Ordinaries: 5,799.50 -2.44 -0.04%
• AUD/USD: 0.7589 +0.0001 +0.01%

The local market eased to a weak close, weighed down by soft commodity prices and a negative Wall Street where the S&P500 dropped 0.2% overnight.

A string of local companies went ex-dividend including MYOB, Brambles, Healthscope and IOOF.

BHP was down 1% to $25.23 and Fortescue Metals 0.6% to $6.50.

The banks were mixed with the NAB up 0.8% to $32.70 and the Commonwealth down 0.3% to $83.23.

The top stories:

1. Spaceship, the super fund for millennials, will start with $100 million. The new fund that tilts its investments towards big-name tech stocks is expected to have its official launch at the end of the month.

2. Naming and shaming bank executives. Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer today came under intense questioning at a parliamentary hearing.

3. The new infant formula player. Bubs Australia announced a deal with wholesaler Costco. It’s shares have doubled since January. Its shares closed 5.4% higher at $0.195.

4. Australia is becoming the world’s biggest supplier of lithium. Deutsche Bank analysts have mapped out a forecast for the sources of the world’s supply of the mineral.

5. When will the rate hikes hit? Goldman Sachs now thinks it’s months, not years, until the RBA raises rates.

6. A statue of a defiant girl in front of the Wall Street bull. State Street Global Advisors installed the bronze as part of its new campaign to pressure companies to add more women to their boards.

7. Fined for advertising airfares cheaper than they really are. The issue was drip pricing, the practice of advertising a cheap airfare online, then adding a range of fees and charges later, pushing up the final price.

8. Impersonating a doctor for more than a decade in NSW. Despite the lack of accreditation, the Medical Council of NSW and the Health Care Complaints Commission has no record of complaints.

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