Australian Rate on Hold at Historic Low of 2.5%

Marcus Jacob
05 Aug, 2014
New York City

Reserve Bank of Australia left its key lending rate at historic low of 2.5% for the 12th month in a row. Market indexes closed lower for the third consecutive day. Cochlear soared 10% after sales in the first-half rebounded.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney, Australia – Reserve Bank of Australia left its key lending rate at historic low of 2.5% for the 12th month in a row. Market indexes closed lower for the third consecutive day. Cochlear soared 10% after sales in the first-half rebounded.[/R]

Australian market indexes declined and Reserve Bank of Australia left its key interest rate unchanged at 2.5%.

As widely expected, the Reserve Bank of Australia at the last meeting in August left key interest rate at a historic-low level of 2.50%. RBA Governor Glenn Stevens suggested that rates are likely to remain “stable” in the near future.

The monetary policy board estimated that the current policy settings configured to support sustainable growth in demand and inflation.

Australian dollar closed at 93.37 U.S. cents and stock trading turnover climbed to 662 million shares worth $4.29 billion.

ASX 200 index slipped 22.30 or 0.4% to 5,518.60 and the broader All Ordinaries fell 21.80 to 5,511.50

Bellamy’s Australia Limited priced its initial public offering at $1 per share and closed at $1.30.

Stocks in Review

Cochlear Limited surged 10.3% to $69 after the hearing devices maker said total revenue in the year ending in June jumped 6.9% to $804.9 million from $752.7 million a year ago period.

Net profit in the year declined 17.4% to $109.5 million compared to $132.6 million and earnings per share dropped to $1.65 from $2.33 a year earlier.

Downer EDI Limited declined 4.2% to $4.58 after the engineering construction company reported group revenue in the year soared 15.3% to $7.7 billion from a year ago period.

Net profit in the year climbed 5.9% to $216 million and earnings before interest and tax dropped 4.9% to $341.1 million from a year earlier.

Transurban Group fell 0.9% to $7.58 after the toll road operator reported revenue in the year ending in June climbed 12.6% to $1.12 billion and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization soared 12.8% to $934.1 million from a year ago period.

Net profit in the year surged 44.5% to $252.2 million compared to $174.5 million from a year earlier.