Flat Retail Sales in Australia, Stocks Fall Ahead of Rate Decision Tomorrow

Marcus Jacob
05 Aug, 2013
New York City

Australian stocks ended a 10-day rally in thin trading ahead of rate decision tomorrow. Retail sales were flat in June and service industry index dropped to a low. Virgin Australia estimated annual loss of $110 million.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks ended a 10-day rally in thin trading ahead of rate decision tomorrow. Retail sales were flat in June and service industry index dropped to a low. Virgin Australia estimated annual loss of $110 million.[/R]

Australian stocks closed lower in thin trading and the Australian dollar recovered ahead of rate decision tomorrow.

The ASX 200 index edged lowered 5.50 to close at 5,111.30 and the broader All Ordinaries slid 4.90 to 5,093.80.

Australian dollar dropped to 88.91 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover plummeted to 478 million shares worth $2.4 billion.

Retail sales in June were flat after rising 0.1% in May, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced today.

The Australian Industry Group said its index of service industry declined in July by 2.1 to 39.4.

Stocks in Review

Rio Tinto jumped 31 cents to $59.62 and BHP closed unchanged at $35.75. Woodside Petroleum Limited climbed 47 cents to $39.22.

David Jones Limited up 5 cents to $2.72 and Breville Group slid 5 cents to $7.67. Woolworths slipped 19 cents to $33.38.

Mirvac Group fell 3 cents to $1.60 and Lend Lease rose 2 cents to $9.04.

Westpac decreased 9 cents to $31.37 and Commonwealth slid 0.1% to $73.76. National Australia Bank decreased 9 cents to $31.08 and ANZ slumped 10 cents to $29.82.

Argo Investments Limited rose 0.6% to $6.99 after the investment company reported total revenue for the year jumped 4% to $187.6 million from $180.4 million and net profit for the year climbed 5% to $175 million.

Envestra Limited closed unchanged at $1.12 and the natural gas distributor will not proceed with takeover proposal from pipeline operator APA Group, and the company said the price is too low and not in the best shareholder interest.

iiNet Limited slid 0.3% to $6.13 after the Internet and telephony service provider agreed to acquire Adam Internet Holdings Pty Ltd and its associated companies for $60 million in cash. Transaction of the acquisition is expected to complete by end of this month.

Northern Star Resources Limited surged 7.6% to 85 cents after the gold producer lifted its full-year net profit guidance for as much as 30% to $28.3 million and revenue will be of $144.2 million.

Paladin Energy Ltd tumbled 27.5% to 72.5 cents after the uranium producer plans to sell stake in its Africa based uranium mine and said low prices for the nuclear fuel could not attract the bid.

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited declined 4.4% to 43.5 cents after the airline company expects loss in the fiscal year ending in June to report between $90 and $110 million, due to competition and weak demand airline is not able to recover the higher ticket prices.