Sydney Index Surges 2%; Retail Sales Drop 1%

Chandrasekhar Atreya
02 Dec, 2010
New York City

Sydney stocks surged nearly 2% on positive economic data from China and the U.S. Retail sales drops for the first time in eight months. Trade surplus in October was $2.625 billion.

[R]6:00 PM Sydney, Australia – Sydney stocks surged nearly 2% on positive economic data from China and the U.S. Retail sales drops for the first time in eight months. Trade surplus in October was $2.625 billion.[/R]

Sydney stocks surged to a two week high on positive economic data from China and the U.S. led by strong gains in resource companies and banks.

The ASX 200 Index gained 1.95% or 89.60 to close at 4,676.20.

The Australian dollar traded higher at noon despite the release of weaker than expected retail trade data. It closed little changed at 96.74 U.S. cents in Sydney today.

The federal government’s solar credits, unveiled and started in December 2008 to last till July 2012, will be scaled down a year ahead of schedule. Former Energy Minister Peter Garrett had started the program which subsidized households for installation of rooftop solar panels to save energy.

The incumbent Energy Minister Greg Combet announced on Wednesday a scaling down of the program a year ahead of schedule. From July 2011, the government would provide four renewable energy certificates, instead of five, for every megawatt hour of solar power.

Nufarm, the farm chemical company, was fined A$66,000 by ASIC for the alleged failure to comply with disclosure obligations relating to its first half results.

Crossland Uranium Mines said it received encouraging assay results from the first seven holes of its 15-hole core drilling program to investigate the uranium potential of the Cockroach Dam prospect.

Retail trade in Australia at current prices dropped 1.1% in October to a seasonally adjusted A$20.233 billion, from a downwardly revised $20.453 in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today.

Retail sales fell for the first time in eight months as higher interest rates prompted consumers to curb spending.

The Australian Retailers Association expects sales between mid-November and Christmas Eve to top A$39.9 billion, slightly up from the A$38.5 billion in the same period a year before.

Trade in October was a surplus of $2.625 billion, seasonally adjusted, from an upwardly revised surplus of $1.814 billion in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today.

During the month exports were up 1% while imports were down 3% in adjusted terms.

Japan’s Inpex Corp took another step to finalize the investment decision on its $20 billion plus Ichthys project in northern Australia by inviting bids for onshore gas processing facilities to be located in Darwin.

Former stockbroker who worked for Orion Asset Management was jailed for at least three years after he pleaded guilty to 25 offences under the Corporations Act, most of them commonly known as insider trading and six other offences known as tipping.

In sentencing 25 year-old John Joseph Hartman, Sydney Supreme court judge Peter McClellan said Hartman’s offences began in 2006 and netted him profits in excess of A$1.9 million.

Azure Minerals confirmed it had entered into an agreement to purchase the San Francisco manganese mine and surrounding exploration areas in Jalisco, Mexico.

Queensland Natural Resource Minister Stephen Robertson today launched the A$5 million post-combustion capture project at the coal fired Tarong Power Station. It is the first power station in the state to trial carbon capture and storage technology.

Tarong power station produces a quarter of the state’s electricity and emits 8 million tons of carbon a year and the project inaugurated is designed to capture about 1,000 tons of carbon per year.

Stock Movers

CuDeco had the highest rally in the benchmark index after it reported intersection of high-grade mineralization in areas currently rated low-grade at its wholly-owned Rocklands copper project.

CuDeco gained 9.56% to close at A$4.01.

BHP Billiton jumped 2.62% to close at A$44.33 while rival Rio Tinto gained 2.3% to close at A$85.01.

ANZ Banking Group led the banks, surging 3.4% to close at A$23.42. National Australia Bank rose 2.62% to close at A$23.91 and Westpac rose 2.38% to close at A$21.96.

Caltex Australia added 4.47% to A$13.79 despite the competition regulator raising concerns about the acquisition of Mobil’s fuel terminal at the port of Gladstone in Queensland.