Australian Indexes Soar 1.6%, Aussie Dollar Jumps Near Yearly High

Marcus Jacob
19 Jun, 2014
New York City

Australian market indexes opened higher and closed up 1.6% after iron ore prices recovered to above $90 a ton. Weak interest rate outlook in the U.S. for the next two years also lifted market sentiment. Ten Network dropped on weak revenue outlook.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes opened higher and closed up 1.6% after iron ore prices recovered to above $90 a ton. Weak interest rate outlook in the U.S. for the next two years also lifted market sentiment. Ten Network dropped on weak revenue outlook.[/R]

Australian stocks opened higher after iron ore prices recovered in the spot market above $90 a ton.

Optimism prevailed in the marketplace after the U.S. Fed estimated benign interest rate environment in the next two years and lowered its outlook for the growth estimate.

Australian dollar jumped to 94.08 U.S. cents and stock trading turnover climbed to 1.01 billion shares worth $6.78 billion.

ASX 200 index climbed 85.50 or 1.6% to 5,468.20 and the broader All Ordinaries jumped 82.50 to 5,446.40.

Stocks in Review

Australian Pipeline Ltd, formerly APA Group rose 1.7% to $7.12 after the energy infrastructure provider expected EBITDA for the year in the range of $740 million to $750 million, an increase from previous guidance of $730 million to $740 million.

Asciano Ltd climbed 6.1% to $5.55 after the rail freight and ports operator reported it will eliminates 500 jobs by the end of June to reduce costs by $90 million in the next financial year.

Dulux Group Limited gained 1.9% to $5.75 after the paint, coatings and adhesives maker completed its first placement of the U.S. bonds valued at US$149.5 million and A$40 million in face value with maturities of 7, 10 and 12 years from September 2014.

JB Hi-Fi Limited increased 1.3% to $18.97 after the home consumer products retailer lifted its net profit guidance for the year to in the range of $126 million to $129 million, up 8.3% to 10.8% from a year ago.

The electronics retailer also said new chief executive will assume the office in the beginning of next year.

Leighton Holdings Limited jumped 1.4% to $19.91 after the engineering construction company’s subsidiary Habtoor Leighton Group secured pipe line project in Doha, Qatar worth US$300 million.

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd fell 0.1% to $7.01 after the communication and hosting service provider lowered its annual operating earnings forecast to breakeven from the earlier estimate between $25 million and $27 million.

Ten Network Holdings Limited plunged 6.9% to 27 cents after the company said its revenue for the year is likely to drop between 3.5% and 4.5% compared to a year earlier.