Australian Indexes Surge 7% in First Quarter

Marcus Jacob
30 Mar, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks eased on the last day of the quarter and the week. For the week the benchmark index gained 2% and soared 7% in the first quarter. Qantas announced fuel surcharge to recover some of the recent increase in fuel prices. Retailers rebound in the first quarter.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks eased on the last day of the quarter and the week. For the week the benchmark index gained 2% and soared 7% in the first quarter. Qantas announced fuel surcharge to recover some of the recent increase in fuel prices. Retailers rebound in the first quarter.[/R]

Australian stocks inched on the last day of the week and the quarter on a weakness in miners and financial stocks.

The benchmark ASX 200 index in the quarter soared 7% and gained 2% in the week as Australian markets raced to match the gains in international trading.

The best quarterly performance was driven by a steady rise in energy and minerals prices after European Central Bank provided additional liquidity totalling $1 trillion. Euro zone finance ministers later today agreed to increase the combined bailout funds size to $1 trillion and committed as much as $195 billion to International Monetary Fund.

Australian stocks gained in the first quarter largely on the strength in banks and resources sectors but retailers rebounded slightly after suffering one of the worst declines in the last three years in the final quarter of last year.

Retailers are facing a perfect storm of strong dollar, greater competition from online retailers and weak economy outside of the mining sector.

Qantas announced fuel surcharge between $10 and $30 on domestic and international flights and struggled to attract more passengers as the company and the competition add more capacity in the last two months.

The load factor across Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstart declined by 0.59% to 80.55% and the airline said its fuel bill in the second half of the current fiscal year is expected to increase to $2.25 billion, an increase of $300 million.

Stock Movers

Miners advanced in the session bucking the trend in the general market and BHP Billiton increased 36 cents to $34.61 and Rio Tinto added $1.04 to $65.40.

For the quarter BHP gained 0.6% and Rio added 8.5%.

Energy complex stocks fell after a French official confirmed that the U.S. and European nations are ready to release more oil from the strategic reserve. Crude oil futures fell 2% in New York and London trading.

Woodside Petroleum fell 49 cents to $34.81 and Santos Limited decreased 17 cents to $14.24. Oil Search gained 6 cents to $6.97.

For the quarter Woodside increased 13.7% and Santos soared 16.4%.

Harvey Norman Holdings closed unchanged at $2.01 and gained 9.5% in the quarter. David Jones Limited edged lower 2 cents to $2.41 and fell gained 1.7% in the quarter.

Billabong International Limited increased 5 cents to $2.78 and jumped 57% after it became a target of a takeover bid.

Westpac Banking Corporation increased 1 cent to $21.89 and gained 9.5% in the quarter and Commonwealth Bank of Australia decreased 35 cents to close at $50.10 and gained 1.8% in the quarter.

Qantas eased 3 cents to $1.78 after it levied more fuel surcharges on all domestic and international flights. The airline stock gained 22% in the quarter after trading at a multi-decade in the last quarter.