Australian Stocks Ease; QBE Net Plunges, Goodman Fielder Soars

Marcus Jacob
28 Feb, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks edged lower for the second day and resource prices stayed elevated. QBE Insurance said it will raise capital in a rights offering after annual net plunged. Goodman Fielder soared on a takeover speculation.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks edged lower for the second day and resource prices stayed elevated. QBE Insurance said it will raise capital in a rights offering after annual net plunged. Goodman Fielder soared on a takeover speculation.[/R]

Australian stocks eased for the second day in a row as world markets awaited the results of the second installment of loan program conducted by the European Central Bank.

QBE reported a sharp fall in earnings and said it will raise more capital to repay its convertible debt, Virgin Australia increased air fares and passed on carbon tax to consumers and Goodman Fielder soared after Singapore based Wilmar International acquired stake in the company.

The ASX 200 index closed lower 4.7 to 4,262.7 and All Ordinaries index declined 3.3 to 4,351.2.

The Australian dollar edged higher to close at $1.0721.

In trading, turnover decreased to 1.58 billion shares worth $2.8 billion and 493 stocks increased, 502 decreased and 387 were unchanged.

Stock Movers

BHP Billiton Ltd decreased 7 cents to $35.75, Rio Tinto Ltd added 30 cents to $67.470 and Fortescue Metals Group gained 1 cent to $5.42.

Lynas Corporation Limited closed down 1 cent to $1.22 and Iluka Resources decreased 5 cents to $16.47. Newcrest Mining eased 20 cents to $33.31.

Oil Search Limited increased 2 cents to $6.97, Santos Limited fell 2 cents at $14.02 and Woodside Petroleum decreased 26 cents to $36.90.

QBE Insurance closed unchanged at $11.50 and the company said 2011 net earnings dropped 45% from a year ago to US$704 million. The company blamed the sharp fall in profit on higher than normal catastrophic events and said it will raise US$500 million in a rights offering to replace its convertible debt.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia decreased 29 cents to $49.15, Westpac declined 3 cents to $20.68 and NAB decreased 20 cents to $23.29. ANZ decreased 20 cent to $21.88.

David Jones Limited decreased 1 cent to $2.75 and Harvey Norman Holdings closed up 1 cent to $2.16. Woolworths decreased 5 cents to $24.95.

Billabong International Limited decreased 7 cents to $2.98 after the company ended the talks with a leveraged buyout group.

Qantas Airways Ltd closed up 3 cents to $1.72, Virgin Australia closed up 1 cent at 43 cents and Flight Centre increased 30 cents to $22.05.

Telstra Corporation Limited added 3 cents to $3.26 and competition regulator approved its plan to separate wholesale and retail business as expected.

Goodman Fielder soared 17 cents to 68.5 cents on the speculation that company may become a takeover target after Singapore based Wilmar International acquired 10% stake in the company.

QR National closed up 4 cents to $3.88.

Aristocrat Leisure Limited increased 36 cents or 14% to $2.90 after the gambling machines maker said current year profit will be boosted by the release of new games.