Australian Indexes Trim 1.3% Surge

Marcus Jacob
19 Jan, 2015
New York City

Australian market index struggled to hold on to the 1.3% surge at the opening after Shanghai index plunged 6%. Dexus Property acquired a business and industrial estate in south of Sydney for $154 million.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market index struggled to hold on to the 1.3% surge at the opening after Shanghai index plunged 6%. Dexus Property acquired a business and industrial estate in south of Sydney for $154 million.[/R]

Australian market indexes trimmed most of the day’s 1.3% gain after index in Shanghai plunged 6%.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported new motor vehicle sales in December climbed 3% to 94,903 units sequentially and the highest level since June 2014.

Australian dollar closed at 82.15 U.S. cents and in stock-trading turnover declined to 635 million shares worth $3.97 billion.

ASX 200 Index gained 9.90 or 0.2% to 5,309.10 and broader All Ordinaries Index rose 10.20 to 5,289.

In commodities trading, gold jumped US$46 to US$1,277 an ounce and light crude oil climbed US$2.18 to US$48.91 a barrel. Brent crude declined 47 cents to close at US$49.51 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

DEXUS Property Group jumped 2.4% to $7.22 after the retail property developer acquired Lakes Business Park, a business and industrial estate, located in south of Sydney for about $153.5 million.

Leighton Holdings Limited increased 1.5% to $20.69 after the engineering and construction group’s Asia subsidiary secured a contract worth $929 million in a joint venture with China State Construction Engineering to build a train link in Hong Kong.

Macquarie Group Limited climbed 5.4% to $58.25 after the investment bank lifted its forecasted net profit for the year ending in March to jump between 10% and 20% compared to $1.27 billion, an increase of 49% and the most since 2008.

Stockland Corporation Ltd rose 0.7% to $4.16 after the shopping center developer outlined development plans in north of Melbourne, the largest master residential community plan in the state for about $4.6 billion.