Australian Quarterly Inflation Rises 0.4%

Marcus Jacob
24 Jul, 2013
New York City

Australian stocks gained and the dollar declined after the latest reported inflation data was lower than expected. Australand Property Group said first-half revenues rose 9% and net profit declined 1%.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks gained and the dollar declined after the latest reported inflation data was lower than expected. Australand Property Group said first-half revenues rose 9% and net profit declined 1%.[/R]

Australian stocks pared gains in the afternoon trading after China released weaker than expected manufacturing data.

The ASX 200 index rose 18 to close at 5,035.10 and the broader All Ordinaries gained 17.20 to 5,021.80.

Australian dollar traded lower to 92.55 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover jumped to 786 million shares worth $4.4 billion. The dollar eased after the release of lower than expected inflation data.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said consumer price index for the June quarter edged up 0.4% and for the year climbed 2.4%, lower than expected by economists.

Stocks in Review

Rio Tinto jumped 92 cents to $57.68 and BHP added 23 cents to $34.73. Woodside Petroleum Limited gained 14 cents to $37.86.

David Jones Limited slid 3 cents to $2.58 and Breville Group declined 31 cents or 4% to $7.48. Woolworths added 1 cent to $33.54.

Mirvac Group rose 4 cents to $1.67. Lend Lease increased 16 cents to $9.02.

Westpac climbed 26 cents to $29.75 and Commonwealth up 0.7% to $72.90. National Australia Bank rose 18 cents to $30.67 after the bank hired Bank of America’s Craig Drummond as group executive of finance and strategy.

ANZ increased 6 cents to $28.98.

Australand Property Group slipped 1.4% to $3.45 after the industrial property investor said revenue in the first-half dropped 9% to $391.51 million compared to $430.48 million. Net profit for the period slid 1% to $88.42 million from $89.67 million a year ago.

The group said, second half result is expected to benefit from new leasing activity completed on the remaining space of Melbourne.

Australian Power and Gas Company Limited closed unchanged at 50.5 cents after the energy utility expects net loss for the year in the range of $10.5 million to $11.5 million on weak demand and high gas and electricity prices.

Telstra Corporation Limited jumped 1% to $5.01 after the telecommunication service provider was warned by the competition regulator that any attempts to increase its slice of the broadband market will be harshly scrutinized.

Reports of increased scrutiny come in the wake of Telstra''s attempt to buy Adam Internet, a South Australian internet service provider for $60 million.

WorleyParsons Limited dropped 2.2% to $21.97 after the professional service provider wins a services contract extension from Brazil based metals and mining company Vale SA for work on its multi-billion dollar iron ore processing facility. The company has worked with Vale on its S11D project since 2010.