Weekly Rise of 2.1% in Australian Indexes

Marcus Jacob
13 Jan, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks advanced on the back of a rally in world markets. Miners, industrials and financials led the latest gains. For the week, the ASX 200 index increased 2.1%.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks advanced on the back of a rally in world markets. Miners, industrials and financials led the latest gains. For the week, the ASX 200 index increased 2.1%.[/R]

Australian stocks closed higher after debt auctions in Spain and Italy attracted more than expected bids and the yields tumbled and domestic earnings optimism also contributed to the positive sentiment.

The ASX 200 index closed up 14.9 or 0.4% to 4,195 and All Ordinaries index decreased 17 or 0.4% to 4,255.4. For the week, The ASX 200 index increased 2.1%.

The Australian dollar edged higher 0.1% and closed at US$1.035.

Stock Movers

BHP Billiton Ltd rose 23 cents to $36.60 and Rio Tinto Ltd increased $0.48 to $65.21.

Fortescue Metals Group rose 9 cents to $4.75, Lynas Corporation Limited closed unchanged at $1.04 and Iluka Resources fell 38 cents to $16.32. Newcrest Mining fell 16 cents to $32.42.

Oil Search Limited traded up 1 cent to $6.58, Santos Limited rose 10 cents to $12.85 and Woodside Petroleum increased 48 cents to $32.85.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia increased 16 cents to $50.07 and National Australia Bank rose 24 cent to $23.80. ANZ edged up 10 cents to $21.20. Westpac inched higher 7 cents to $20.68.

ANZ Bank is expected to lay-off as many as 1,000 in its back office operation according to unnamed sources quoted on the website of the Sydney Morning Herald.

The bank also held rates on hold this month for mortgage variable rates at 7.3%, the other three largest banks have not made rate announcements.

David Jones Limited closed down 6 cents to $2.37 and Wesfarmers Limited decreased 9 cent to $30.40. Harvey Norman Holdings closed unchanged at $1.98.

Woolworths Limited closed down 7 cents to $25.67 and JB Hi-Fi Limited increased $0.21 to $11.88. Billabong International Ltd fell 1 cent to $1.86 and Kathmandu closed flat at $1.25.

Qantas Airways Ltd closed down 1 cent to $1.49, Virgin Australia closed up 0.5 cent to 31.5 cents and Flight Centre closed up 39 cents to $17.91.

QBE Insurance Group Limited decreased $0.35 to $11 and Insurance Australia Group was flat at $2.97.

QR National rose 14 cents to $3.76.