Brisbane Prepares for Peak Floods, Caltex Shuts Refinery

Chandrasekhar Atreya
12 Jan, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Sydney traded in a narrow range to close marginally higher. Third largest Australian city Brisbane comes to a halt as flood waters are expected to swell. Caltex closes its refinery in Brisbane. November home loan approvals reach the highest in 2010.

[R]6:00 PM Sydney, Australia – Stocks in Sydney traded in a narrow range to close marginally higher. Third largest Australian city Brisbane comes to a halt as flood waters are expected to swell. Caltex closes its refinery in Brisbane. November home loan approvals reach the highest in 2010.[/R]

Australian shares edged into positive territory led by miners and Caltex Australia after it was forced close its refinery near Brisbane.

The ASX 200 Index added 0.29% or 13.5 to 4,724.20 and the Australian dollar was little changed at 98.87 U.S cents in Sydney today.

Brisbane, the third largest Australian city has all but come to a halt, with postal services, public transport and garbage collection all winding up as the city waits for the floods to peak before they subside. Commuters can only make it as far as Sherwood on the Ipswich line.

About 30,000 homes and businesses are facing flooding prospects in Brisbane and Ipswich and the Queensland government has ordered people at work in the two cities not engaged in critical tasks to return to home.

The floods have cut the profit of Australia’s biggest oil refiner Caltex Australia by up to A$10 million after its refinery in Lytton in Brisbane was forced to close down.

The state’s coal seam gas companies are struggling after being hit by the floods that have made some of the prime gas-producing regions unproductive.

Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal has been exporting coal at about 60% of normal volumes in January, a spokesman for the port, said today.

Job vacancies in Australia surged 5.3% to 190,200, seasonally adjusted, in the three months ended November, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today.

Home loan approvals in November rose unexpectedly to reach the highest in 2010, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The number of loans granted to buy or build houses and apartments increased 2.5% to 50,526 from revised 2.2% in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today.

Stock Movers

Caltex Australia, half owned by Chevron Corp, fell 5.68% to A$14.14, the most since June 25 after flooding in Brisbane forced it to close operations at it Lytton Refinery there.

RP Data surged by 50% after the property information provider received a $256 million takeover offer from U.S. financial information provider CoreLogic Inc. The shares surged 51.85% to A$1.64 after a trading halt was lifted on Wednesday.

BHP Billiton surged 59 cents to A$45.20 and Rio Tinto gained $1.07 to close at A$85.19.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia added 5 cents to A$50.35 while National Australia Bank dropped 10 cents to A$23.79.

ANZ also slipped 11 cents to A$22.72 while Westpac Banking Corp lost 8 cents to A$21.98.