Australian Markets Ease; Transfield, Kathmandu in Focus

Marcus Jacob
26 Mar, 2013
New York City

Australian market indexes declined and iron ore and other commodities prices edged lower but the dollar advanced. Transfield won a contract linked to the national broadband network project. Kathmandu six-month net soared.

[R]6:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes declined and iron ore and other commodities prices edged lower but the dollar advanced. Transfield won a contract linked to the national broadband network project. Kathmandu six-month net soared.[/R]

Australian markets opened lower and fell more at close after fresh worries about Cyprus bailout process resurfaced.

Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the powerful group of finance ministers in the euro zone said Cyprus bailout should serve as a template to restructure nations with oversized banking industry.

Cyprus banking sector was eight times larger than its gross domestic product.

The ASX 200 index slipped 40 or 0.8% to 4,950.20 and the broader All Ordinaries decreased 36.83 to 4,964.68.

Australian dollar traded near one-month high and closed at $1.049.

Stock Movers

Rio Tinto declined $1.32 to $56.93 and BHP down 48 cents to $32.92. Fortescue Metals Group fell 7 cents to $3.81.

Woodside Petroleum lowered 32 cents to $36.54 and Santos fell 17 cents to $12.53.

Newcrest Mining decreased 40 cents to $21.95, Kingsgate slid 14 cents to $3.95 and Whitehaven Coal slipped 7 cents to $2.10.

David Jones Limited closed unchanged at $3.02 and Breville Group climbed 18 cents to $5.95. Billabong fell 3 cents to 73 cents and Globe International closed unchanged at 40 cents.

Woolworths slid 3 cents to $33.85. Kathmandu added 1 cent to $1.98 and the company reported a surge in first-half net.

Toll Holdings fell 3 cents to $5.68, Leighton dropped 63 to $20.44 and Mirvac Group up 2 cents to $1.62. Lend Lease lowered 19 cents to $9.73.

Transfield Services decreased 4.5 cents to $1.82 despite the company winning a contract as a part of the $37.4 billion national broad network project

Westpac declined 33 cents to $30.68, Commonwealth fell 1% to $68.31 and National Australia Bank fell 0.6% to $30.66 and ANZ slid 39 cents to $28.44.

Macquarie Group lowered 15 cents to $36.07 and Wesfarmers down 14 cents to $40.40.