Australian Dollar Nears 3-month Low, GVK and Aurizon Near an Accord

Marcus Jacob
25 Nov, 2013
New York City

Australian stocks opened higher and the Aussie dollar extended its loss in the month and neared a three-month low. India based GVK and Aurizon are closer to an agreement to develop rail link to port in Queensland. Charter Hall completed $80 million offering.

[R]4:30 PM Sydney – Australian stocks opened higher and the Aussie dollar extended its loss in the month and neared a three-month low. India based GVK and Aurizon are closer to an agreement to develop rail link to port in Queensland. Charter Hall completed $80 million offering.[/R]

Australian stocks opened higher and strayed near the high of the session as investors looked to international markets.

The Aussie dollar extended the decline and is down 3% in the month and is nearing the low of 89 cents reached in August.

Australian dollar eased 91.46 U.S. cents. In stock trading, turnover fell to 646 million shares worth $3.6 billion.

The ASX 200 index increased 16.90 or 0.3% to close at 5,352.80 and the broader All Ordinaries rose 15.80 to 5,346.10.

Stocks in Review

Rio Tinto gained 12 cents to $65.40. BHP rose 6 cents to $37.89. Woodside Petroleum Limited increased 17 cents to $38.42.

Westpac added 2 cents to $32.52 and India-based Infosys secured $150 million outsourcing contract from the bank to provide services in independent validation and testing.

Ausenco Limited was halted at $1.20 ahead of the 2013 earnings guidance update.

Aurizon Holdings Ltd gained 1.1% to $4.74 after the rail freight operator made progress with India based GVK Coal Infrastructure (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. for joint development of rail line and new coal terminal at Abbot Point Port to unlock the Galilee Basin''s coal resources.

The agreement is to build 300 kilometers of new rail track to reduce the costs on rail line and coal terminal at Abbot Point.

The proposed development, of the rail and port infrastructure is expected to generate investment in Queensland of $6 billion.

Charter Hall Retail REIT fell 0.5% to $3.82 after the property investment company completed $80 million institutional placement for acquisition of Rosebud Plaza.

Goodman Fielder Limited plunged 7.1% to 65.5 cents after the company warned that earnings may be weaker following squeeze on margins in dairy business of New Zealand.

FlexiGroup Limited slipped 1.3% to $4.56 after the company forecasted profit growth in the fiscal 2014 in the range of 17% to 19%.

Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Co climbed 2% to $9.23 after the Canada-based Saputo Inc raised its unconditional offer to $505 million to $9.20 a share in cash if it won more than 50% acceptance by December 13.

Bega already received regulatory approval for final offer of $2 cash and 1.5 Bega shares a Warrnambool share currently valued at around $9 a share.