Australian Index in 5-Day Slump, Telstra Shines

Marcus Jacob
11 Jul, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks closed lower for the fifth day and investors awaited more economic data from China. Stocks in resource sector declined for the third day in a row and Telstra extended annual gain to 12% and traded at 40-month high.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks closed lower for the fifth day and investors awaited more economic data from China. Stocks in resource sector declined for the third day in a row and Telstra extended annual gain to 12% and traded at 40-month high.[/R]

Australian stocks closed lower for the fifth day in a row following the weak international markets and investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the GDP data from China.

The ASX 200 index edged down 1.50 to 4,096.50 and All Ordinaries index fell 2.94 to 4,135.0.

The Australian dollar closed at US$1.022 and traded near its record high at 83.43 euro cents. Gold traded at US$1,577 an ounce and crude oil futures edged up to US$85 a barrel.

In trading, turnover decreased to 1.4 billion shares worth $3.22 billion and 342 stocks rose, 499 decreased and 342 were unchanged.

Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of Australia, Philip Lowe said “the banking system globally is not doing enough to rebuild that bond of trust among the public and the problems with Barclays is just another illustration of that.”

Barclays forced out its chief executive and chairman after the bank agreed to pay a fine for manipulating Libor rate used by most international contracts for the personal benefit of the traders. Several other banks are also investigated and more banks are expected to pay large fines linked to the Libor manipulation.

Stock Movers

Telstra gained 5 cents to $3.86 and extended its advance to 12% in the year and the stock closed at its highest since December of 2008.

Billabong International Limited rose 2 cents to $1.05 and the retailer remained the target of takeover speculation.

News Corp added 2 cents to $21.62 and Ten Network up 0.5 cents to 47.5 cents and Fairfax Media closed up 0.5 cents at 56.5 cents.

Resources stocks were lower on the worries that slowing economic growth in China may drag the demand for commodities and iron ore. China reported imports rose at a slower pace than exports in June and the fastest growing nation is scheduled to report the GDP data on Friday.

BHP Billiton Limited slumped 17 cents to $31.05 and Rio Tinto Limited plummeted 45 cents to $55.65. Fortescue Metals Group gained 8 cents to $4.92.

Iluka Resources added 2 cents to $9.27. Lynas Corporation Limited increased 7 cents to 90 cents, Newcrest Mining slipped 13 cents to $22.49 and Kingsgate was unchanged at $5.06.

Oil Search Limited slid 10 cents to $6.37 and Santos Limited fell 3 cents to $10.52.

Metcash edged lower 1 cent to $3.19, Harvey Norman Holdings closed unchanged at $1.91 and Woolworths increased 6 cents to $27.0. Kathmandu was flat $1.13.

David Jones Limited closed unchanged at $2.35.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia gained 16 cents to $53.60 and Bank of Queensland added 3 cents to $6.58. ANZ increased 10 cents to $22.44. National Australia Bank added 4 cents to $23.59 and Westpac Banking Corporation closed up 26 cents to $21.82.

Macquarie Group slumped 15 cents to $25.32 and Perpetual Limited plummeted 48 cents to $22.79.

Leighton dropped 61 cents to $15.39, Stockland added 3 cents to $3.16 and Toll Holdings slid 7 cents to $3.87.

Qantas was flat at $1.04, Virgin Australia held at 38.5 cents and Flight Centre advanced 44 cents to $20.63.

QR National fell 1 cent to $3.30.