Australian Dollar Inches to Parity, Qantas Surges 10%

Marcus Jacob
12 Jun, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks traded higher on the first day of trading. Resource companies were in focus after international prices of commodities extended losses. The euro zone worries shifted to Italy and Greece. Qantas surged 10%.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks traded higher on the first day of trading. Resource companies were in focus after international prices of commodities extended losses. The euro zone worries shifted to Italy and Greece. Qantas surged 10%.[/R]

Australian markets closed higher and resource prices in Asia and international markets were softer as Spain worries were replaced by Italian bailout prospects.

A private survey conducted by National Australia Bank showed business conditions declined to a 3-year low in May. The survey index dropped by 4 points to -4 and business confidence also fell 6 points to -2.

The conditions were weaker as construction, manufacturing and retail industries continue to struggle.

The ASX 200 index edged up 9.21 to 4,072.90 and All Ordinaries index rose 7.15 to 4,118.30. Qantas reversed its losses of last week and surged more than1 6% after the airline hired Macquarie to defend the company against hostile takeover.

The Australian dollar extended gains for the third day to 99.11 U.S. cents.

Markets in Asia were generally lower except the indexes in India edged higher on the expectation of a rate cut from the Reserve Bank.

Stock Movers

BlueScope Steel increased 10% to 28.5 cents after the steelmaker said it plans to cut its large debt and the company is not looking to raise any new capital.

David Jones Limited increased 9 cents to $2.23, Harvey Norman Holdings closed up 3 cents to $1.90 and Woolworths gained 9 cents to $26.60.

Kathmandu added 2 cents to $1.13. Billabong International Limited rose 2 cents to $1.90.

Ten Network Holdings dropped 13% to 52.5 cents after the media company completed its institutional offer at 51 cents a share.

BHP Billiton Limited slipped 19 cents to $31.72 and Rio Tinto Limited declined 94 cents to $54.65. Fortescue Metals Group fell 4 cents to $4.55 and Ivanhoe Australia added 5 cents to 57 cents.

Lynas Corporation Limited rose 1 cent to 97.5 cents and Iluka Resources increased 14 cents to $12.44. Newcrest Mining gained 8 cents to $24.65 and Kingsgate added 3 cents to $5.64.

Oil Search Limited increased 9 cents to $6.69 and Santos Limited slides 3 cents to $11.82 and Orica gained 47 cents to $24.45.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia closed up at 35 cents to $50.82 and Bank of Queensland added 14 cents to $6.66. ANZ increased 21 cents to $21.77. National Australia Bank rose 6 cents to $22.22 and Westpac Banking Corporation closed up at 14 cents to $20.57.

Stockland fell 3 cents to $3.20, Leighton added 1 cent to $16.92 and Toll Holdings closed up at 6 cents to $4.44.

Qantas gained 11 cents or 10.8% to $1.08 after the company took steps to defend from a possible hostile takeover from private equity groups after the stock fell by one third in the last three weeks.

Virgin Australia fell 1 cent to 38.5 cents and Flight Centre gained 52 cents to $18.92.

QR National slipped 3 cents to $3.37.