Weekly Rise of 0.5% in Australian Indexes, RBA Meeting on Tuesday

Marcus Jacob
27 Jun, 2014
New York City

Australian stocks eased on Friday but for the week gained after iron ore prices firmed up in international markets. Reserve Bank of Australia is scheduled to meet and China is set to report its official manufacturing index on Tuesday. WestSide rejected $178 million offer.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks eased on Friday but for the week gained after iron ore prices firmed up in international markets. Reserve Bank of Australia is scheduled to meet and China is set to report its official manufacturing index on Tuesday. WestSide rejected $178 million offer.[/R]

Australian stocks closed lower on Friday but gained 0.5% in the week and investors looked ahead to international announcements scheduled next week.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is scheduled to meet on Tuesday and keep the rates on hold and European Central Bank will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday.

In addition, China is scheduled to report official index of manufacturing activities on Tuesday.

Australian dollar jumped to 94.38 U.S. cents and stock trading turnover climbed to 808 million shares worth $6.17 billion.

ASX 200 index slipped 19.20 or 0.3% to 5,445.10 and the broader All Ordinaries slid 17.70 to 5,429.10. For the week, ASX 200 gained 0.5%.

Job vacancies in the quarter to May increased, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The vacancies rose for the second quarter in a row.

Vacancies increased 2.6% from a year ago quarter to 147,100, the highest since the early 2013.

Monash IVF Group, the fertility treatment provider priced its public offering at $1.85 and closed at $1.90.

Stocks in Review

Academies Australasia Group Ltd surged 9.1% to $1.20 after the education service provider agreed to acquire CLB Training & Development Pty Ltd for $15.75 in cash and stock.

Australian Ethical Investment Limited closed unchanged at $35.45 after the investment company forecasted net profit in the year ending in June between $2.3 million and $2.8 million, mainly due to strong net flows and improved trading conditions.

Fairfax Media Limited closed unchanged at 92.5 cents after the print and broadcasting company signed an agreement with APN News and Media Limited for printing of its New Zealand news summaries and newspapers.

MOKO Social Media Ltd plunged 24.5% to 20 cents after the custom mobile social media services provider listed on the U.S. based Nasdaq trading system to raise US$8.25 million.

The company priced its initial public offering of 1.1 million American Depositary Shares each representing 40 ordinary shares at a price of US$7.50 per ADS.