5-day Decline in Australian Stocks; Tabcorp, Iluka in Focus

Marcus Jacob
06 Jun, 2011
New York City

Australian indexes closed lower for the fifth day in a row and dropped three weeks in a row by 9%. Trading volume declined for the fifth day in a row. Job advertisements in Australia declined 6.5% in May. Iluka Resources gained after indicating price increase between 40% and 75% in the second half.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian indexes closed lower for the fifth day in a row and dropped three weeks in a row by 9%. Trading volume declined for the fifth day in a row. Job advertisements in Australia declined 6.5% in May. Iluka Resources gained after indicating price increase between 40% and 75% in the second half.[/R]

The Australian benchmark index declined lower on the first day of the week after falling three weeks in a row. Investors also stayed on the sidelines as trading turnover dropped for the fifth day in a row.

The ASX 200 index dropped 0.3% or 14 to 4,569.10 and All Ordinaries index fell 0.4% or 17.90 to 4,648.70.

Stock trading turnover decreased for the fifth day in a row to 1.73 billion shares worth $3.6 billion. Of the shares traded, 365 increased, 750 declined and 376 were unchanged.

The Australian Securities Exchange said average daily trading value declined by $1.7 billion in the last one year.

The Australian dollar increased a fraction to US$1.075 and crude oil price edged 5 cents higher to US$100.27 a barrel.

Job advertisements declined 6.5% in May from April but increased 8.3% from year ago according to the survey released by the ANZ bank. The total ads on the Internet and in the newspapers declined for the second month in a row.

Newspaper ads declined 2.7% and Internet ads fell 6.6% in the month.

Stock Movers

Energy and resource stocks closed lower.

Woodside Petroleum declined 11 cents to $45.59 and Santos Ltd edged down 0.2%.

BHP Billiton fell 23 cents to $43 and Rio Tinto declined 41 cents to $79.35.

Iluka Resources increased 7% or $1.15 to $17 after the company guided higher prices in the second half. The minerals sand producer said average price for titanium dioxide products is expected to be revised by 75% and zircon prices by as much as 40%.

Zircon prices are expected to be increased between 35% and 40% from the next quarter from the current price of US$1,600 a ton. Titanium dioxide prices are expected to rise between 70% and 75% from the current price of US$770 a ton.

Tabcorp Holdings plunged 25% or $1.15 to $3.35 after the company split its court approved casino and ECHO Entertainment. Echo opened at $4.35 and traded as high as $4.52 before settling at $4.45.

Banks closed mixed.

Westpac closed flat at $21.35, ANZ declined 12 cents to $21.25, Commonwealth increased 17 cents to $49.68 and National Australia Bank added 13 cents to $24.43.

Foster’s Group extended gains for the second day by 9 cents to $4.52.