Largest Weekly Drop in Australian Stocks in a Year

Marcus Jacob
22 Mar, 2013
New York City

Stocks in Sydney traded higher after a decline for 4-days and the benchmark index closed down 3%, largest fall in a year. Banks led the advance.

[R]6:30 PM Sydney – Stocks in Sydney traded higher after a decline for 4-days and the benchmark index closed down 3%, largest fall in a year. Banks led the advance.[/R]

Stocks in Sydney closed higher braving the Asia-wide decline and the dollar inched higher and banks were in favor in trading today.

The benchmark index ASX 200 index gained 0.2% after falling for 4-days in a row and the index closed down 3% in the week, the largest fall in a year.

The ASX 200 index rose 7.90 to 4,967.30 and the broader All Ordinaries added 4.03 to 4,980.80.

Australian dollar traded near one-month high and closed at $1.042.

Stock Movers

Rio Tinto slipped 38 cents to $57.92 and BHP slid 6 cents to $33.43. Fortescue Metals Group decreased 10 cents to $3.81.

Woodside Petroleum fell 8 cents to $36.94 and Santos lowered 18 cents to $12.46.

Newcrest Mining gained 34 cents to $22.30. Kingsgate climbed 13 cents to $4.14 and Whitehaven Coal down 6 cents to $2.19.

David Jones Limited down 5 cents to $3.02 and Breville Group added 8 cents to $5.62. Billabong surged 5.5 cents or 7.9% to 75 cents and Globe International closed unchanged at 40 cents.

Woolworths increased 30 cents to $34.03. Kathmandu fell 1 cent to $1.95.

Billabong International rebounded 8% after the company said it is in discussion with two bidders that have valued the company at $544 million.

Toll Holdings gained 10 cents to $5.69, Leighton plunged $1.50 or 6.9% to $20.20 and Mirvac Group closed unchanged at $1.63. Lend Lease rose 3 cents to $9.75.

Westpac jumped 42 cents to $30.50, Commonwealth slid 0.03% to $68.63 and National Australia Bank increased 0.9% to $30.63 and ANZ jumped 41 cents to $28.55.

Macquarie Group slipped 27 cents to $35.45 and Wesfarmers climbed 33 cents to $40.63.