Australian Retail Sales Flat and Weak Manufacturing

Marcus Jacob
03 Dec, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks extended gains for the second day in a row after a flood of economic data offered a mixed picture. Manufacturing sector shrank for the eighth month in a row and home prices were flat last month. Retail sales were flat after rising 0.5% in September.

[R]7:30 PM Sydney – Australian stocks extended gains for the second day in a row after a flood of economic data offered a mixed picture. Manufacturing sector shrank for the eighth month in a row and home prices were flat last month. Retail sales were flat after rising 0.5% in September.[/R]

Australian dollar was under pressure after a flood of economic data.

Retail sale were flat in October after rising 0.5% in September, according to the latest data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Home prices last month were generally unchanged in across Australia according to the private survey released by RP Data-Rismark. Home prices in Melbourne fell 1%, rose 0.1% and rose 0.5% in Adelaide and Brisbane. Prices in Perth gained 1% and gained 1.3% in Canberra.

Manufacturing sector shrank for the ninth month in a row and fell 1.6 percentage points to 43.6 in November. The index had increased 1.1% in October but still below 50, indicating a decline in growth rate. The manufacturing index is tracked by the Australian Industry Group.

The ASX 200 index gained 25.50 or 0.6% to 4,531.5 and the broader All Ordinaries advanced 22.00 to 4,540.0.

Australian dollar inched higher to $1.0433.

Stock Movers

BHP Billiton Limited increased 15 cents to $34.54 and Rio Tinto Limited fell 21 cents to $58.54.

Gindalbie Metals dropped 12% to $34.11 after the iron ore miner completed the placement of $40 million with institutional investors.

Mirabela Nickel fell 1 cent and Newcrest Mining declined 39 cents to $25.26. Kingsgate Consolidated added 2 cents to $4.88 and Whitehaven Coal advanced 6 cents to $3.03.

Transfield Services closed up 2 cents at $1.70 and engineering contractors WorleyParsons added 8 cents to $24.64.

Monadelphous Group added 28 cent to $22.05.

Oil Search Limited fell 4 cents to $7.06 and Santos Limited increased 3 cents to $11.17.

Woodside Petroleum jumped 31 cents to $34.11 and the company acquired a 30% interest in a liquefied natural gas field off the coast of Israel for $1.25 billion.

Origin Energy Limited increased 9 cents to $11.08.

Seven West Media fell 1 cent to $1.61. Harvey Norman Holdings declined 1 cent $1.79.

Woolworths gained 15 cents to $29.43 and Kathmandu added 1 cent to $1.47.

David Jones Limited decreased 5 cents to $2.44 and Wesfarmers gained 40 cents to $35.95. Breville Group closed unchanged at $5.90.

Billabong International Limited fell 0.05 cent to 87 cents.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia advanced $1.12 to $60.81 and Bank of Queensland decreased 3 cents to $6.99 and ANZ jumped 33 cents to $24.69.

Macquarie Group Limited climbed 5 cents to $32.81 and Perpetual Limited increased 54 cents to $31.77. National Australia Bank fell 1 cent to $24.29. Westpac jumped 6 cents to $25.56.

Toll Holdings decreased 3 cents to $4.62, Leighton fell 3 cents to $17.23 and property developer Mirvac Group gained 2 cents to $1.50.

Westfield Group added 8 cents to $10.50.

Qantas closed unchanged at $1.33, Flight Centre increased 25 cents to $27.25 and Virgin Australia closed unchanged at 44 cents.

QR National added 1 cent to $3.62 and Telstra closed up 4 cents to $4.35.