Australian Stock Recover from Early Losses, Santos Sales Rise

Marcus Jacob
18 Jul, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Sydney recovered from early losses as tensions rose between Russia and Europe and Israel offensive also roiled oil market. Santos Limited quarterly sales rose 22%.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney, Australia – Stocks in Sydney recovered from early losses as tensions rose between Russia and Europe and Israel offensive also roiled oil market. Santos Limited quarterly sales rose 22%.[/R]

Geopolitical tensions hovered market sentiment in Sydney trading and market indexes recovered from early doldrums to close higher. For the week, the indexes gained 0.7%.

International tensions ran high after Russia supported rebels shot down a passenger jet flying in international air space over Ukraine near Russian border. All 295 passengers including 15 flight crew were killed on a Malaysian Airlines flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

In addition, Israel stepped up its bombing offensive in Gaza and military widened its campaign to target rocket bases controlled by local groups defending borders.

Australian dollar closed at 93.68 U.S. cents and stock trading turnover slipped to 704 million shares worth $4.16 billion.

ASX 200 index gained 9.30 to 5,531.70 and the broader All Ordinaries rose 9.30 to 5,519.20. For the week, ASX 200 increased 0.7%.

Stocks in Review

APN News and Media Limited jumped 2% to 75.5 cents after the media company agreed to acquire remaining 50% ownership of Hong Kong-based Buspak Advertising (Hong Kong) Limited for $14 million.

AGL Energy Limited rose 0.3% to $14.95 after the gas and electricity trader forecasted underlying net profit after-tax may be in line with market consensus of $561 million and warned that the removal of carbon tax will cut its gross EBIT for fiscal 2015 by as much as $200 million.

Mineral Resources Limited soared 5.2% to $11.10 after the resources services provider said its iron ore export volumes in the year surged 88% to a record 10.43 million tons from 5.56 million tons a year ago and iron ore shipments in the fourth-quarter climbed 14% to 2.9 million tons.

Santos Limited fell 0.4% to $14.15 after the oil and gas producer reported sales in the second-quarter ending in June climbed 22% to $974 million compared to $797 million a year earlier, after oil and gas output rose 3% to 12.8 million from 12.4 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The company estimated production for the year between 52 million and 57 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Sydney Airport Holdings Limited gained 0.7% to $4.35 after the airport operator said passenger in the first-half rose 2.3% to 18.6 million and international passengers climbed 4.7% from a year ago period.