Australian Stocks Rebound; Brambles Sales Rise, James Hardie Loss

Marcus Jacob
19 May, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Australia rebounded after commodities gained and the Australian dollar rebounded. Resource stocks led the recovery. Brambles increased after it reported nine-month sales increased 5% and reaffirmed full year outlook. James Hardie said operating net declined 12% excluding one-time charges.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Stocks in Australia rebounded after commodities gained and the Australian dollar rebounded. Resource stocks led the recovery. Brambles increased after it reported nine-month sales increased 5% and reaffirmed full year outlook. James Hardie said operating net declined 12% excluding one-time tax related charges.[/R]

Australian stocks rebounded on the economic optimism and talks of higher commodities prices. Separately, Japan reported economy in the fourth quarter to March fell 0.9% from the previous quarter and declined for the second quarter in a row.

The ASX 200 index increased 1.4% or 62.7 to 4,756.40 and All Ordinaries index gained 62.90 or 1.3% to 4828.20.

In trading, 2.47 billion shares changed hands worth $5.93 billion. Of the shares traded, 702 increased, 427 declined and 390 were unchanged.

The Australian dollar increased to US$1.065 and crude oil price increased 5 cents to US$100.15.

Stock Movers

Resource stocks led the gainers in trading today. BHP Billiton increased 53 cents or 1.2% to $44.82, Rio Tinto increased 1.3% or $1.04 to $81.10 and Fortescue Metals added 10 cents to $6.49.

Sandfire Resources increased 49 cents to $6.82 and Aquila Resources added 59 cents to $8.70. Beach Energy gained 7 cents to 98 cents.

Four leading banks participated in the rally and closed higher. Westpac increased 9 cents to $22.90, ANZ increased 29 cents to $22.98, Commonwealth Bank added 58 cents to $52.38 and National Australia Bank gained 47 cents to $27.40.

Brambles increased 27 cents or 3.9% to $7.27 after the pallet maker said nine months sales increased 5% to US$3.27 billion and maintained its full year earnings estimate. The company guided full year operating earnings between US$740 million and US$780 million.

James Hardie closed nearly unchanged at $5.83 and recovered form the 3% decline after the construction material maker reported net loss of US$347 million and estimate flat sales in the U.S. market.

Excluding one time charge of US$345.2 million, net operating profit declined 12% to US$116.7 million. The company incurred one time charge related to tax assessment for the fiscal year 1999 after it lost its appeal in the Federal Court.

Sales in Australia rose 7% on higher volume and higher prices.