Australian Indexes Close Lower After Choppy Trading

Marcus Jacob
20 Jul, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks closed lower today in choppy trading and resource stocks closed higher after oil increased for the eighth day in a row. For the week the ASX index increased 2.9%. Ten Network was halted ahead of the sale of its outdoor advertising unit.

[R]7:30 PM Sydney – Australian stocks closed lower today in choppy trading and resource stocks closed higher after oil increased for the eighth day in a row. For the week the ASX index increased 2.9%. Ten Network was halted ahead of the sale of its outdoor advertising unit.[/R]

Stocks in Sydney traded lower at the opening and rebounded in the positive territory in the late afternoon but slipped back into negative at close.

The ASX 200 index slid 7.60 to 4,199.10 and All Ordinaries index fell 5.76 to 4,230.60. For the week, the ASX 200 index increased 2.9%.

The Australian dollar closed at US$1.039 and edged lower from the record 84.6 euro cents and crude oil futures rose for the eighth straight session in New York and in Asian trading.

Gold price for the immediate delivery added $7.10 to $1,583.10 an ounce and oil futures gained to close at US$92.43 a barrel.

Stock Movers

News Corp declined 31 cents to $21.63, Ten Network closed up 1 cent at 51.5 cents and Fairfax Media rose 1.5 cents to 58 cents.

BHP Billiton Limited increased 26 cents to $31.36 and traded near a 40-month low, Rio Tinto Limited added 3 cents to $53.39 and Fortescue Metals Group dropped 23 cents to $4.36.

Iluka Resources slipped 14 cents to $8.58, Lynas Corporation Limited closed unchanged at 87.5 cents, Newcrest Mining increased 8 cents to $21.83 and Kingsgate gained 6 cents to $4.89. Whitehaven Coal rose 0.2% or 1 cent to $4.05.

Oil Search Limited slid 4 cents to $6.79 and Santos Limited slipped 14 cents to $10.55.

Woodside Petroleum increased 12 cents to $32.79 after the company lifted its full-year production estimate.

Metcash fell 2 cents to $3.22, Harvey Norman Holdings closed up 9 cents at $2.10 and Woolworths declined 28 cents to $27.62. Kathmandu closed unchanged at $1.14.

David Jones Limited gained 9 cents to $2.41. Telstra rose 1 cent to $3.95 and Billabong International Limited added 5 cents to $1.18.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia plummeted 78 cents to $55.12 and Bank of Queensland rose 1 cent to $7.12. ANZ slumped 16 cents to $23.07. National Australia Bank slipped 9 cents to $23.99 and Westpac Banking Corporation decreased 10 cents to $22.85.

Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund increased 15 cents to $2.50 after the company urged shareholders to reject takeover offer. The offer was earlier approved by regulators.

Macquarie Group slid 11 cents to $24.70 and Perpetual Limited dropped 23 cents to $23.76.

Leighton increased 29 cents to $16.22, Stockland fell 1 cent to $3.22 and Toll Holdings advanced 29 cents to $4.12.

Qantas closed up 1 cent at $1.07, Flight Centre gained 14 cents to $21.59 and Virgin Australia added 0.5 cents at 39.5 cents.

QR National closed unchanged at $3.34.