Australian Indexes Rebound, Santos Production at 7-year High

Marcus Jacob
17 Oct, 2014
New York City

Australian market indexes traded higher after volatile trading for three days. Banks led the gainers and resource stocks closed down on weak commodities. Santos Limited reported record quarterly production in seven years. Virgin Australia agreed to acquire full control of Tigerair Australia.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes traded higher after volatile trading for three days. Banks led the gainers and resource stocks closed down on weak commodities. Santos Limited reported record quarterly production in seven years. Virgin Australia agreed to acquire full control of Tigerair.[/R]

Australian market indexes rebounded but weak commodities prices hovered the market sentiment.

Australian dollar closed at 87.49 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover declined to 767 million shares worth $4.38 billion.

ASX 200 Index gained 16.80 or 0.3% to 5,271.70 and broader All Ordinaries Index increased 15.80 to 5,260.10. For the week, ASX 200 jumped 1.7%.

Australian Stock Movers

Iluka Resources Limited increased 1.1% to $7.63 after the titanium dioxide producer reported mineral sands revenue in the third-quarter was flat at $147.7 million. But, revenue for the nine months declined 7.1% to $491 million from $528.7 million from last year.

Santos Limited gained 0.6% to $12.72 after the oil and gas producer reported revenue in the third-quarter ending in September surged 16% to $2.95 billion from $2.54 billion a year ago period.

The oil and gas producer said quarterly crude oil production climbed 13% to 2.4 million barrels and total sales revenues of gas, ethane and LNG for the quarter soared 37% to $483 million.

The company maintained its full-year production forecast after posting its strongest quarterly production in seven years in the third quarter of 2014.

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited closed unchanged at 37.5 cents after the discount airline agreed to acquire the remaining stake of 40% in Tigerair Australia that it doesn’t already own for only $1 and assume its large debt load.

The airline reported revenue in the first-quarter ending in September increased 1.3% from a year ago period and net loss of $59.1 million.