Australian Indexes Flat, Ten Struggles to Sell Outdoor Ad Unit

Marcus Jacob
23 Oct, 2012
New York City

Australian indexes closed flat after early gains. Ten Networks confirmed a lower bid of $110 million for its outdoor advertising business. UBS confirmed that a client placed a large order of $200 million that was later cut to $56 million and contributed to the spike in eight stocks on last Thursday.

[R]7:30 PM Sydney – Australian stocks closed flat and lost early gains. Ten Networks confirmed a lower bid of $110 million for its outdoor advertising business. UBS confirmed that a client placed a large order of $200 million that was later revised to $56 million and contributed to the spike in eight stocks on last Thursday.[/R]

Stocks in Sydney closed flat after early gains were lost ahead of the rate decision in the U.S. Also, markets drifted in the late afternoon trading and looked for direction from the market in Japan and Hong Kong markets were closed today.

The ASX 200 index inched up 2.10 to 4,543.10 and the broader All Ordinaries edged up 3.37 to 4,567.96.

Australian dollar decreased 1 cent to close at $1.0253 against the U.S. dollar.

Stock Movers

BHP Billiton Limited increased 9 cents to $34.79 and, Rio Tinto Limited gained 7 to $57.82. Lynas Corporation Limited up 0.5 cents to 68.5 cents and Iluka Resources slumped 26 cents to $10.20.

Fortescue Metals gained 7 cents to $4.21.

Mirabela Nickel closed unchanged at 47 cents and Newcrest Mining added 2 cents to $27.16. Kingsgate up 3 cents to $5.71 and Whitehaven Coal increased 5 cents to $3.20.

Graincorp slipped 0.8% to $12.20 after the company confirmed that it received a preliminary bid of $2.7 billion from the U.S. based Archer Daniels Midland which controls 14.9% stake in the company.

Transfield Services added 1 cent to $1.65; engineering contractors WorleyParsons plunged $1.66 cents or 6.2% to $25.33 and Monadelphous Group slumped 53 cents to $21.02.

Oil Search Limited closed unchanged at $7.60 and Santos Limited closed unchanged at $11.94 and Woodside Petroleum slipped 9 cents to $35.52. Sundance Energy gained 3.5 cents or 4.5% to 82 cents.

Origin Energy Limited decreased 10 cents to $11.55.

Seven West Media closed unchanged at $1.23, Ten Network up 0.5 cents to 30.5 cents and Fairfax Media gained 1.5 cents or 4.1% to 38 cents and the controversial News Corp. slipped 11 cents to $24.39.

Harvey Norman Holdings slid 2 cents to $1.99, Woolworths slumped 15 cents to $29.06 and Kathmandu lowered 2 cents to $1.50.

David Jones Limited closed unchanged at $2.62 and Wesfarmers decreased 14 cents to $34.74. Breville Group dropped 20 cents to $6.

Billabong International Limited gained 2.5 cents to 85.5 cents and chief executive Laura Inman disclosed in a regulatory statement the purchase of 59,000 shares at an average price of 84 cents a share for $49,000.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia advanced 43 cents to $57.10 and Bank of Queensland added 2 cents to $7.50. ANZ increased 5 cents to $25.71.

National Australia Bank slid 2 cents to $26 and Westpac Banking Corporation gained 5 cents to $25.43.

Macquarie Group declined 35 cents to $30.65 and Perpetual Limited climbed 13 cent to $27.86.

Toll Holdings slipped 6 cents to $4.33 and Leighton dropped 23 cents to $18.83 and property developer Mirvac Group closed unchanged at $1.51.

Qantas up 1 cent to $1.34, Flight Centre jumped 69 cents to $27.89 and Virgin Australia closed unchanged at 45 cents.

QR National closed unchanged at $3.80 and Telstra added 3 cents to $4.06 to close at a 4-year high.