Banks and Miners Lead Australian Indexes Lower

Marcus Jacob
03 Jul, 2012
New York City

Australian markets closed lower after a choppy day of trading. Energy companies traded lower after a renewed weakness in crude oil and natural gas prices but metals and mining companies gained.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Australian markets closed lower after a choppy day of trading. Energy companies traded lower after a renewed weakness in crude oil and natural gas prices but metals and mining companies gained.[/R]

Australian stocks traded choppy but at the close decreased as weak commodities prices overwhelmed the positive sentiment.

The ASX 200 index edged down 5.80 to 4,127.20 and All Ordinaries index fell 6.10 to 4,166.40.

The Australian dollar rebounded to US$1.0261.

Stock Movers

Aristocrat Leisure increased 9 cents to $2.54 a day after the casino operator estimated less than expected outlook for the second half.

News Corp advanced 55 cents to $22.15, Ten Network fell 5 cents to 49 cents and Fairfax Media fell 5 cents to 58 cents.

Commodities prices were weaker but BHP Billiton Limited increased 8 cents to $31.80 and Rio Tinto Limited advanced 91 cent to $57.42.

Fortescue Metals Group added 1 cent to $4.87 a day after founder Andrew Forrest acquired 6 million additional shares.

Lynas Corporation Limited edged down 5 cents to 85.5 cents and Iluka Resources added 5 cents to $11.30. Newcrest Mining slid 4 cents to $23.50 and Kingsgate slipped 6 cents to $5.05.

Oil Search Limited fell 1 cent to $6.64 and Santos Limited slumped 21 cents to $10.70 after the energy producer said the Gladstone liquefied natural gas project cost has increased 15% to $18.5 billion.

Metcash slipped 13 cents to $3.30, Harvey Norman Holdings rose 1 cent to $1.95 and Woolworths decreased 15 cents to $26.71. Kathmandu gained 5 cents to $1.07. Billabong International Limited added 1 cent to $1.07.

David Jones Limited closed unchanged at $2.33.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia slumped 21 cents to $53.32 and Bank of Queensland increased 6 cents to $6.75. ANZ slipped 9 cents to $22.26. National Australia Bank slid 8 cents to $23.68 and Westpac Banking Corporation closed up 9 cents to $21.55. Macquarie Group decreased 9 cents to $26.71.

Perpetual Limited advanced 73 cents to $23.38.

Stockland down 4 cents to $3.13, Leighton slipped 9 cents to $16.59 and Toll Holdings fell 3 cents to $3.89.

Qantas unchanged to $1.10, Virgin Australia fell 1 cent at 37.5 cents and Flight Centre slipped 18 cents to $18.99.

QR National decreased 6 cents to $3.34.