Australian Dollar Dips, ADM Revises Graincorp Offer

Marcus Jacob
27 Nov, 2013
New York City

Stocks in Sydney trading closed lower after steady gain in the morning trading. Australian dollar dipped to a three-month low. Archer Daniels Midland revised its offer for Graincorp and offered to invest in distribution infrastructure.

[R]4:30 PM Sydney – Stocks in Sydney trading closed lower after steady gain in the morning trading. Australian dollar dipped to a three-month low. Archer Daniels Midland revised its offer for Graincorp and offered to invest in distribution infrastructure.[/R]

Australian stocks edged lower and the dollar declined after a weakness in commodities prices and market indexes in Asia generally closed higher.

Stocks opened higher and made more advances by mid-day trading but broader indexes turned lower in afternoon trading.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported seasonally adjusted construction activity in the third-quarter to September climbed 2.7% to $53.43 billion and increased 1.3% from a year ago period.

Australian dollar dropped to 91.29 U.S. cents. In stock trading, turnover declined to 732 million shares worth $3.9 billion.

The ASX 200 index slipped 24.10 or 0.4% to close at 5,332.90 and the broader All Ordinaries fell 25.70 to 5,324.90.

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.

GrainCorp Limited gained 1.3% to $11.33 after the Australia-based grain supply chain received a revised offer from U.S.-based Archer Daniels Midland Co to overcome political and grower’s opposition.

The company offered additional spending on rail infrastructure and access to silos and ports and additional $200 million to upgrade the agricultural infrastructure.

The company had proposed $3 billion for the takeover.

Australia''s Foreign Investment Review Board is expected to decide by December 17 on the proposed deal.

IPB Petroleum Limited surged 12.9% to 35 cents after the Australia-based oil and gas explorer issued approx 11.1 million new shares at a price of 27 cents per share to institutional investors to raise $3 million.

Programmed Maintenance Services Limited fell 0.3% to $2.95 after the business services provider said revenue in the first-half ending in September dropped $723.59 million from $757.72 a year-ago period.

Net profit in the period rose 0.7% to $12.4 million compared to $12.3 million and earnings per share grew 1% to 10.5 cents from 10.4 cents a year earlier.

The group’s net debt at September 30 declined to $40.1 million from $95.9 million in the same period of a year ago.