Australian Markets Struggle; QR National Cuts Earnings View

Marcus Jacob
23 Mar, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks declined and the two benchmark indexes closed nearly unchanged. The dollar declined and retailers continued to struggle as investors looked ahead to the RBA meeting on April 3.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks declined and the two benchmark indexes closed nearly unchanged. The dollar declined and retailers continued to struggle as investors looked ahead to the RBA meeting on April 3.[/R]

Australian stocks opened sharply lower on the renewed global jitters and the decline in the Australian dollar. The market sentiment recovered in the late afternoon after defensive stocks regained but miners closed near the lows of the day.

The ASX 200 index fell 3.30 to 4,270.40. All Ordinaries index fell 4.16 to 4,360.72. For the week, the ASX index declined 0.1% after gaining 1.5% in the previous week.

The Australia dollar declined to $1.036 after the release of manufacturing data from China and business sentiment in the euro zone forecasted a recession in the current quarter.

Stock Movers

Mining companies were on the declined for the second day in a row after weak manufacturing readings from China and the euro zone.

BHP Billiton Ltd decreased 40 cents to $34.40 and Rio Tinto Ltd decreased 97 cents to $63.70. Fortescue Metals Group fell 8 cents to $6.00.

Lynas Corporation Limited closed down 5 cents at $1.09 and Iluka Resources fell 55 cents to $16.90.

Newcrest Mining decreased 35 cents to $29.00 and Kingsgate decreased 14 cents to $6.29.

Oil Search Limited rose 1 cent to $6.89, Santos Limited decreased 13 cents to $14.28 and Woodside Petroleum gained 48 cents to $35.37.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia increased 14 cents to $49.16, Westpac closed up 8 cents to $21.37 and NAB fell 4 cents to $24.35. ANZ increased 9 cents to $22.74.

Macquarie Group decreased 34 cents to $28.77.

David Jones Limited closed down 3 cents at $2.37 and retailers were in focus again as the general business climate on the east coast remain weak and high dollar and competition from online stores impact total sales.

Harvey Norman Holdings closed up 2 cents at $1.95 and Woolworths decreased 7 cent to $24.91. Myer rose 2 cents to $2.28 and Kathmandu closed down 1 cent at $1.24.

Real estate developers closed mixed and Westfield Group closed up 5 cents to $8.74 and Stockland unchanged to $3.19.

Qantas Airways Ltd closed down 3 cents to $1.73, Virgin Australia rose 0.05 at 46.5 cents and Flight Centre increased 24 cents to $21.24.

QR National declined 12 cents to $3.77 after the railroad operator lowered its annual net income outlook to between $540 million and $580 million from its previous guidance of $578 million.