Shares are dragged lower by ANZ and Westpac trading ex-dividend, while IRESS is sold sharply down after a trading update and investors react luke-warmly to Aurizon’s proposed acquisition.
Global e-commerce giant Amazon has said it will launch in Australia with both a full retail and marketplace offering, confirming for the first time its strategy for its attack on the local market.
But Amazon’s Australian country manager, Rocco Braeuniger, fell tantalisingly short of saying when the company would finally start trading here, telling a suppliers’ summit in Sydney this morning only that it was “getting really, really, really close”.
Analysts expect the company to open its doors before Christmas, with some predicting the start date to coincide with the Black Friday or Cyber Monday shopping events on November 24 and 27.
