Weekly Gain of 1.4% in Australian Indexes, LNG Surges 33%

Marcus Jacob
26 Jul, 2013
New York City

Australian market indexes gained 1.4% for the week and the dollar firmed up near the recent lows. Liquefied Natural Gas Limited soared 33% after it finalized financing for its plant in the U.S. SkyCity Entertainment plans to invest $300 million in a casino project.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes gained 1.4% for the week and the dollar firmed up near the recent lows. Liquefied Natural Gas Limited soared 33% after it finalized financing for its plant in the U.S. SkyCity Entertainment plans to invest $300 million in a casino project.[/R]

Australian stocks closed higher and market indexes traded volatile on the last day of the week. Resource and banking sector stocks led the gainers.

The ASX 200 index rose 6.40 to close at 5,042 and the broader All Ordinaries edged up 5.50 to 5,023.80. For the week, ASX 200 increased 1.4%.

Australian dollar gained to 92.66 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover climbed to 972 million shares worth $6.1 billion. The dollar eased after the release of lower than expected inflation data yesterday and declined for the second day in a row.

Stocks in Review

Rio Tinto slid 26 cents to $57.24 and the mining company approved $1.03 billion investment for the construction of new 2,500 liters per second seawater desalination.

BHP fell 17 cents to $34.60. Woodside Petroleum Limited lowered 10 cents to $37.78.

David Jones Limited gained 7 cents to $2.65 and Breville Group down 16 cents to $7.44. Woolworths increased 7 cents to $33.61.

Mirvac Group closed unchanged at $1.70. Lend Lease dropped 19 cents to $8.77.

Westpac climbed 46 cents to $30.52 and Commonwealth added 0.2% to $73.65. National Australia Bank rose 13 cents to $31. ANZ gained 29 cents to $29.41.

Liquefied Natural Gas Limited surged 33.3% to 28 cents after it secured funding for its plant in the U.S. and Stonepeak has agreed to provide the full $718.25 million.

Silex Systems Limited slid 0.4% to $2.52 after the semiconductor maker confirmed the receipt of the $15 million milestone payment from GE-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment and from a US consortium.

SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited after the casino operator said the company is ready to invest $300 million to renovate Adelaide Casino after winning approval from South Australia's parliament.

Sigma Pharmaceuticals Limited plunged 6% to 70 cents after it lowered the first-half earnings expectation compared to a year ago.

McMillan Shakespeare rebounded 12% after a sharp plunge in yesterday’s trading on the worries that a change in tax rule may cut company earnings outlook substantially.