Australian Home Construction to MaintainTorrid Pace

Marcus Jacob
16 Jun, 2014
New York City

Housing industry in Australia is expected commence on 180,000 new homes in the current year, an increase of 7.1% following 10.9% rise last year. Precious metals miners led the broader market advance after indexes reversed earlier losses in the day.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Housing industry in Australia is expected commence on 180,000 new homes in the current year, an increase of 7.1% following 10.9% rise last year. Precious metals miners led the broader market advance after indexes reversed earlier losses in the day.[/R]

Stocks in Sydney closed higher after reversing earlier losses and investors looked ahead to minutes of meeting scheduled to be released tomorrow.

Market sentiment turned positive after precious metals miners turned up following a rise in gold and platinum prices but the weakness in the iron ore continued to drag resource stocks.

Investors also focused on the rising tensions in Iraq and oil prices in international markets turned higher for the third week in a row.

Australian dollar slid to 94.11 U.S. cents and stock trading turnover dropped to 589 million shares worth $3.47 billion.

ASX 200 index edged up 7.20 to 5,412.30 and the broader All Ordinaries rose 6.90 to 5,390.60.

Home building is expected to continue at a feverish pace, according to the latest estimate released by the industry group.

Housing Industry Association estimated new home construction to advance 7.1% to 180,000 following a 10.9% increase last year. The industry is expected to add most number of homes for the first time since the construction of 187,000 building starts in 1994.

Stocks in Review

Arrium Ltd declined 4.8% to 79.5 cents and the mining company renewed its syndicated loan facilities of $725 million maturing in the second-half of next year.

Echo Entertainment Group Ltd surged 7.6% to $2.98 after the casinos operator lifted its EBITDA for the year to a range between $430 million to $435 million on lower operating costs.

Super Retail Group Ltd climbed 3.3% to $8.32 after the specialty retailer forecasted net profit-after-tax in the year between $107 million and $109 million, an increase of 5% compared to a year ago.

UGL Limited gained 0.6% to $6.98 after the diversified service provider agreed to sale its property service business to the U.S.-based consortium led by private equity group TPG for $ 1.22 billion in cash.