Australian Indexes Gain 1%; ANZ Lifts Rates Again

Marcus Jacob
13 Apr, 2012
New York City

Australian indexes closed higher and barely gained in the week as commodities prices advanced. Qantas chief executive backed the second airport proposal in Sydney. ANZ lifted rates again and broke ranks with the Reserve Bank.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Australian indexes closed higher and barely gained in the week as commodities prices advanced. Qantas chief executive backed the second airport proposal in Sydney. ANZ lifted rates again and broke ranks with the Reserve Bank.[/R]

Australian stocks closed higher following the rise in commodities prices and the gains in international markets. The benchmark index gained more than 1% and barely closed in positive for the week.

The ASX 200 index gained 42.70 to 4,323.30 and All Ordinaries index increased 42.46 to 4,404.17. For the week the ASX 200 index inched up 0.1% and the All Ordinaries gained 0.3%.

In trading, national turnover increased to 2.04 billion shares worth $4.22 billion and 647 shares closed higher 327 declined and 388 were unchanged.

Stock Movers

In mining industry news, Flinders Mines was halted ahead of court ruling on a takeover offer of $554 million from a Russia based steel maker.

BHP Billiton soared 57 cents to $34.47 and Rio Tinto surged $1.49 to $65.95.

Lynas Corporation Limited closed up 8 cents to $1.11 and Iluka Resources advanced 53 cents to $17.80. PanAust added 14 cents to $3.27 after the Laos focused miner said it exceeded its production expectation at its main copper mine in the first quarter to March.

Newcrest Mining increased 27 cents to $29.24 and Kingsgate gained 14 cents to $6.27 after gold prices surged more than 1% or up US$16.52 to US$1,658.48 in local trading.

Chinalco Yunnan closed unchanged at 16 cents after the company indicated that mineral exploration in Queensland has come to a halt.

Oil Search Limited unchanged to $6.95. Woodside Petroleum gained 54 cents to $34.76 and Santos Limited unchanged to $14.00. Oil Search unchanged to $6.95.

David Jones Limited rose 5 cents to $2.31, Harvey Norman Holdings closed up 2 cents to $1.93 and Woolworths increased 13 cents to $25.72. Myer advanced 2 cents to $2.34 and Kathmandu closed up 4 cents at $1.32.

Billabong International Limited rose 3 cents to $2.85.

Westpac Banking Corporation increased 7 cents to $22.12 and Commonwealth Bank of Australia soared 42 cents to close at $50.18. Bank of Queensland increased 9 cents to $6.99.

ANZ raised its variable lending rate to small businesses and for mortgage lending by 6 basis points to 7.42%. The second increase since February is the departure again from the interest rate regime set by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The move was condemned by the Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Macquarie Group surged 79 cents to $28.99 and QBE Insurance Group rose 0.1% after it issued an optimistic outlook for the year.

Real estate developers closed mixed Westfield Group increased 18 cents to $8.92 and Stockland rose 5 cents to $2.99.

Qantas closed up 1 cent to $1.67 and company chief Alan Joyce backed a second airport development in Sydney, Virgin Australia fell 1 cent to 41 cents and Flight Centre increased 18 cents to $21.50.

QR National rose 1 cent to $3.61.