Australian Markets Trend Lower on Softer Metals Prices

Marcus Jacob
07 Jan, 2013
New York City

Australian markets eased following softer resource prices. Lynas said it is set to ship from its controversial rare earth processing refinery in Malaysia. Whitehaven Coal rebounds after it resumes trading that knocked off 9%.

[R]7:30 PM Sydney – Australian markets eased following softer resource prices. Lynas said it is set to ship from its controversial rare earth processing refinery in Malaysia. Whitehaven Coal rebounds after it resumes trading that knocked off 9%.[/R]

Stocks opened higher but steadily lost momentum after resource prices in spot market weakened. The benchmark ASX index extended losses for the second day in a row and trading volume was light.

The ASX 200 index edged down 6.50 to 4,717.30 and the broader All Ordinaries lowered 4.80 to 4,738.07.

Australian dollar advanced to $1.049.

In trading, stock turnover increased to 1.2 billion shares worth $2.8 billion and 474 stocks closed higher, 440 declined and 360 were unchanged.

Stock Movers

Lynas gained 9 cents to 71 cents after the rare earth metals products maker said that the company is set to ship products from its controversial plant in Malaysia “within weeks.”

Whitehaven Coal fell 9% to $3.21 before the stock was halted at 1 pm after a hoax media release that wiped out nearly $275 million in market value. The stock recovered most of the losses and closed at $3.50.

Australian securities regulator said it will investigate the sharp decline in stock price.

BHP Billiton Limited dropped 10 cents to $37.81 and Rio Tinto Limited plummeted $1.15 to $67.40. Fortescue Metals added 3 cents to $4.89.

Newcrest Mining slumped 28 cents to $22.56. Kingsgate down 4 cents to $4.56 and Whitehaven Coal lowered 2 cents to $3.50.

Transfield Services closed unchanged at $1.92 and engineering contractor WorleyParsons added 5 cents to $24.06. Monadelphous Group gained 9 cents to $24.94 and Downer EDI slid 2 cents to $4.11.

Lend Lease decreased 10 cents to $9.43.

Oil Search Limited lowered 1 cent to $7.05 and Santos Limited slipped 6 cents to $11.24.

Woodside Petroleum up 4 cents to $34.60 and Origin Energy Limited gained 9 cents to $11.90.

Woolworths fell 4 cents to $29.51 and Kathmandu closed unchanged at $1.58.

David Jones Limited closed unchanged at $2.40 and Wesfarmers increased 19 cents to $37.05. Breville Group dropped 14 cents to $6.27.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia declined 65 cents to $62.60 and Bank of Queensland increased 11 cents to $7.61 and ANZ gained 15 cents to $25.41. National Australia Bank slid 1 cent to $25.30. Westpac added 3 cents to $26.28.

Toll Holdings increased 5 cents to $4.92, Leighton up 11 cents to $19.11 and property developer Mirvac Group down 1 cent to $1.47.

Westfield Group lowered 1 cent to $10.51.