Australian Markets Halt 3-Day Rally

Marcus Jacob
11 Sep, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks declined after a 3-day rally ahead of fate of the German court ruling. Mining companies closed mixed and iron ore prices rose to $95 a ton. CSL Limited won a U.S. government contract for influenza pandemic preparedness.

[R]9:30 PM Sydney – Australian stocks declined after a 3-day rally ahead of fate of the German court ruling. Mining companies closed mixed and iron ore prices rose to $95 a ton. CSL Limited won a U.S. government contract for influenza pandemic preparedness.[/R]

Australian markets opened sharply lower and struggled to rebound in the early afternoon. Indexes closed lower on a cautious note ahead of the German court ruling that may delay the launch of permanent bailout fund.

The ASX 200 index slipped 8 to 4,325.80 and the broader All Ordinaries decreased 9.70 to 4,348.30.

The Australian dollar extended gains for the third day to US$1.0343.

Stock Movers

CSL Limited increased 2.2% after the biotechnology company received a contract from the U.S. government for the influenza pandemic preparedness program that may add up to $1.5 billion.

Mining companies closed mixed after iron ore prices in the spot market increased to US$95 a ton from US$89 on Friday.

BHP Billiton Limited increased 12 cents to $32.58 and, Rio Tinto Limited decreased 17 cents to $54.53 and Fortescue Metals Group plunged 18 cents or 5.1% to $3.37.

Lynas Corporation Limited slipped 2.5 cents to 81 cents and Iluka Resources increased 6 cents to $9.37.

Newcrest Mining declined 24 cents to $26.77 after gold added more than $10 an ounce in international markets. Kingsgate gained 6 cents to $4.81 and Whitehaven Coal slipped 8 cents to $3.

Transfield Services up 3 cents to $1.82 billion; engineering contractors WorleyParsons advanced 48 cents to $25.66 and Monadelphous Group dropped 41 cents to $19.50.

Oil Search Limited increased 11 cents to $7.54 and Santos Limited slid 5 cents to $11.65 and Woodside Petroleum declined 35 cents to $34.67. Sundance Energy lowered 0.5 cents to 75 cents.

Seven West Media down 3 cents to $1.29, Ten Network closed unchanged at 38 cents and Fairfax Media closed unchanged at 43.5 cents.

News Corp. slipped 16 cents to $23.60 after Jamie Packer controlled Consolidated Media backed the revised takeover plan from the company.

Harvey Norman Holdings slid 1 cent to $1.98, Woolworths slumped 22 cents to $28.95 and Kathmandu closed unchanged at $1.38.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped 30 cents to $54.18 and Bank of Queensland gained 5 cents to $7.59. ANZ decreased 9 cents to $24.10. National Australia Bank increased 7 cents to $25.08 and Westpac Banking Corporation slid 2 cents at $23.58.

Macquarie Group climbed 18 cents to $28.58 and Perpetual Limited up 1 cent to $26.35.

David Jones Limited lowered 4 cents $2.37 and Wesfarmers slipped 7 cents to $34.80. Billabong International Limited closed unchanged at $1.42. Breville Group slid 4 cents to $5.39. Harvey Norman lowered 1 cent to $1.98.

Toll Holdings decreased 9 cents to $4.58, Leighton plummeted 46 cents to $14.72 and property developer Mirvac Group added 1 cent at $1.41.

Qantas lowered 3 cents to $1.25, Flight Centre gained 17 cents to $24.89 and Virgin Australia added 0.5 cents to 42 cents.

QR National fell 1 cent to $3.44 and Telstra slid 1 cent to $3.80.