Australian Stocks Flat but Dollar Hits New High

Marcus Jacob
28 Apr, 2011
New York City

Australian stocks were flat as the dollar rose for the second day in a row to a new high of US$1.0921. Crude oil futures increased but metals closed mixed in Asian trading. Goodman Fielder dropped more than 9% after it cut profit outlook by 20%.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks were flat as the dollar rose for the second day in a row to a new high of US$1.0921. Crude oil futures increased but metals closed mixed in Asian trading. Goodman Fielder dropped more than 9% after it cut profit outlook by 20%.[/R]

Stocks in Australia were nearly flat after Goodman Fielder and Whitehaven lowered earnings outlook and commodities retained the positive momentum.

The steady rise in the Australian dollar has turned the Australian economy on two tracks with miners benefitting from the dollars advance and the retailers suffering from the loss of customers.

U.S. Federal Reserve left its key benchmark target rate unchanged and said that weak and slow recovery in the labor market warrants low interest rate for a foreseeable future.

The ASX 200 index edged up 0.1 to 4,873.0 and All Ordinaries index declined 1.7 to 4,952.30.

The Australian dollar continued its advance for the second day to US$1.0921 after the release of faster than expected inflation.

Crude oil futures of immediate month delivery increased 33 cents to US$113.09 a barrel.

Stock Movers

Resource stocks were mixed after base metals were lower in London trading yesterday but metals were on the rise in Shanghai.

BHP Billiton declined 0.3% to $46.29 and Rio Tinto Limited edged 0.1% lower to $83.37.

Woodside Petroleum increased 0.7% to $47.65 on the ongoing speculation that BHP may make a run at the company stake controlled by Royal Dutch Shell.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia increased 1.1% to $53.66, National Australia Bank added 1.2% to $27.10 and ANZ added 1.1% to $24.32.

Telstra gained 1.8% to $2.89 after the company secured rights to transmit Australian Football League games via Internet to mobile phones and other devices.

Computershare increased 7.7% to $9.62 after the company agreed to acquire Bank of New York Mellon Shareholder Services for US$550 million. The deal still needs regulatory approval and may face a scrutiny from antitrust agency in the U.S.

Goodman Fielder Limited dropped 9.1% to $1.05 after the company lowered its profit estimate by 20% to a range between $140 million and $182 million. The company chairman also confirmed that the company is in search of new chief executive replacing Peter Margin.