Australian Jobs Ads Fall; Stocks Ease on Euro Zone Worries

Marcus Jacob
16 Jan, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Sydney declined on the rising worries in the euro zone and a growing speculation that Greece may default on its loans. Job advertisements in December declined 0.9% according to a private survey and the government is set to release monthly jobs data on Thursday.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Stocks in Sydney declined on the rising worries in the euro zone and a growing speculation that Greece may default on its loans. Job advertisements in December declined 0.9% after rising revised 0.1% in November according to a private survey and the government is set to release monthly jobs data on Thursday.[/R]

Australian stocks traded lower and halted a rise in the last week after euro zone worries resurfaced.

Australian job advertisements declined 0.9% in December after rising 0.1% in November according to the monthly survey published by the ANZ Bank. Internet job ads declined 1.1% on a monthly basis and rose 2.3% from a year ago. Newspaper ads in the month increased 3.5%, second monthly increase in a row.

Australian Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to release December jobless rate on Thursday and China is expected to release its latest quarterly GDP tomorrow.

Markets reacted negatively after Standard & Poor’s lowered its credit opinion on nine euro zone nations. Austria and France were knocked off from its highest credit opinion and seven other nations including Portugal, Italy and Slovakia suffered a downgrade.

Investors also unnerved after talks between Greece and three international lenders broke off last week and are set to resume again midweek. Investors are increasingly factoring a disorderly default in Greece as the nation demands more than 50% cut in repayment to bondholders.

The ASX 200 index closed down 48.7 or 1.2% to 4,147.1 and All Ordinaries index decreased 46.5 or 1.1% to 4,208.9.

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

Stock Movers

BHP Billiton Ltd fell 62 cents to $36.01 and Rio Tinto Ltd decreased $0.32 to $64.89.

Fortescue Metals Group decreased 13 cents to $4.62, Lynas Corporation Limited closed down 4 cents to $1 and Iluka Resources fell 36 cents to $15.96. Newcrest Mining fell 44 cents to $31.98.

Oil Search Limited traded down 13 cent to $6.45, Santos Limited fell 4 cents to $12.81 and Woodside Petroleum increased 16 cents to $33.01.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia decreased 56 cents to $49.51 and National Australia Bank fell 39 cent to $23.41. ANZ declined 34 cents to $20.86. Westpac inched lower 31 cents to $20.37.

David Jones Limited closed down 5 cents to $2.32 and Wesfarmers Limited decreased 40 cent to $30. Harvey Norman Holdings closed unchanged at $1.97.

Woolworths Limited closed down 22 cents to $25.45 and JB Hi-Fi Limited decreased $0.13 to $11.75. Billabong International Ltd fell 4 cent to $1.81 and Kathmandu closed up 1 cent to $1.26.

Qantas Airways Ltd closed down 1 cent to $1.48, Virgin Australia closed down 1 cent to 30.5 cents and Flight Centre closed down 41 cents to $17.50.

QBE Insurance Group Limited increased $0.27 to $11.27 and Insurance Australia Group declined 4 cents to $2.93.

QR National fell 9 cents to $3.67.