Australian Insurers Worry Sandy Losses, Virgin in Alliance with Etihad

Marcus Jacob
30 Oct, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks struggled to advance and investors looked in international markets for direction. Virgin Australia announced a far reaching alliance with Singapore Airlines, Etihad and Air New Zealand and sold 10% stake to Singapore Airlines.

[R]7:30 PM Sydney – Australian stocks struggled to advance and investors looked in international markets for direction. Virgin Australia announced a far reaching alliance with Singapore Airlines, Etihad and Air New Zealand and sold 10% stake to Singapore Airlines.[/R]

Early gains in Sydney trading were lost by the early afternoon as investors looked for direction in the international markets. Insurance companies were under pressure on the worries that domestic companies will share in the losses linked to Hurricane Sandy in the Northeastern U.S.

The ASX 200 index gained 8.80 to 4,485.70 and the broader All Ordinaries increased 6.33 to 4,505.70.

Australian dollar closed to $1.0337.

The Bank of Japan announced after the rate setting meeting that it will increase its bond buying program by 11 trillion yen or $134 billion. The move was widely anticipated by traders in Tokyo but fell short of the expectations.

Stock Movers

BHP Billiton Limited increased 14 cents to $33.97 and Rio Tinto Limited slipped 6 cents to $56.86. Lynas Corporation Limited up 1 cent to 71.5 cents and Iluka Resources declined 27 cents to $9.81.

Fortescue Metals gained 7 cents to $4.10.

Mirabela Nickel closed unchanged at 46 cents and Newcrest Mining slumped 7 cents to $26.16. Kingsgate closed unchanged at $5.41 and Whitehaven Coal closed unchanged at $3.

Transfield Services lowered 3 cents at $1.57, engineering contractors WorleyParsons advanced 30 cents to $24.88 and Monadelphous Group gained 14 cents to $20.70.

Oil Search Limited decreased 6 cents to $7.40 and Santos Limited closed unchanged at $11.48 and Woodside Petroleum slipped 5 cents to $34.30.

Origin Energy Limited added 2 cents to $11.35.

Seven West Media fell 1 cent to $1.21 and News Corp, the controversial global entertainment group, increased 7 cents to $23.60.

Harvey Norman Holdings declined 1 cent to $1.91, Woolworths gained 12 cents to $29.26 and Kathmandu slipped 4 cents to $1.42.

David Jones Limited slid 1 cent to $2.61 and Wesfarmers up 1 cent to $34.31. Breville Group slipped 6 cents to $5.85. Billabong International Limited fell 3 cents to 89 cents.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia climbed 52 cents to $57.31 and Chairman David Turner said at the annual general meeting today that the bank is expecting credit demand to stay low.

Bank of Queensland gained 4 cents to $7.56 and ANZ increased 15 cents to $25.38.

Macquarie Group jumped 48 cents to $31.20 and Perpetual Limited advanced 24 cents to $27.26. National Australia Bank closed up 2 cents ahead of its earnings results tomorrow. Westpac added a fraction to close at $25.34.

Toll Holdings closed unchanged at $4.29, Leighton slipped 6 cents to $18.30 and property developer Mirvac Group slid 1 cent to $1.51. Westfield Group lowered 1 cent to $10.66.

Qantas closed unchanged at $1.34, Flight Centre slumped 8 cents to $26.64. Virgin Australia gained 2.5 cents to 48.5 cents after the company sold 10% stake to Singapore Airlines and acquired 60% stake in the domestic carrier Tiger Airways.

Virgin also announced to acquire Skywest, the charter carrier focused on the mining region, for $99 million.

Separately, the company also announced airline marketing alliance with Singapore Airlines, Etihad and Air New Zealand.

QR National decreased 6 cents to $3.66 and Telstra gained 4 cents to $4.11.