Aussie Dollar Weakens on RBA Minutes, Stocks Reboun

Marcus Jacob
17 Mar, 2015
New York City

Australian stocks rebounded on the back of resource sector and banks. Gold and crude oil declined in trading in Asia and in Australia. BHP Billiton said the South32 spinoff cost is likely to reach $738 million.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian stocks rebounded on the back of resource sector and banks. Gold and crude oil declined in trading in Asia and in Australia. BHP Billiton said the South32 spinoff cost is likely to reach $738 million.[/R]

Australian market indexes rebounded on the back of resource sector stocks and large banks.

The Aussie dollar declined after the latest minutes from the RBA meeting in March showed a wait and see approach by the central bank before taking additional measures to change the rate.

Australian dollar closed at 76.38 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover increased to 768 million shares worth $5.1 billion.

ASX 200 Index jumped 44.40 or 0.8% to 5,842.10 and broader All Ordinaries Index gained 41.30 to 5,811.

In commodities trading, gold dropped US$5 to US$1,155 an ounce and light crude oil slipped 93 cents to US$46.13 a barrel.

Brent crude declined US$1.23 to close at US$53.44 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

BHP Billiton Limited gained 1.3% to $29.77 after the diversified mining company said proposed US$15 billion spin-off of South32 may cost as much as US$738 million, including charges related to stamp duty, cash tax, set up and financial advisory services.

DuluxGroup Limited jumped 2.3% to $6.36 after the paint, coatings and adhesives maker announced its plans to invest $165 million in new production facilities in Melbourne and a new distribution centre in Sydney.

The company said Rocklea production site is more than 50 years old but will continue to produce solvent-based paints and some wood-care products.

The projects are expected to be fully operational in 2019.

Sirtex Medical Limited plunged 55% to $17.53 after latest results of clinical study showed no any meaningful improvement for its liver cancer treatment.

The company spokesperson that the latest results are no indication that the company’s research findings will not lead to results in the future and added that investors overreacted.

Speedcast International Ltd surged 10.9% to $2.55 after the network and satellite communications service provider agreed to acquire U.K.-based Datacommunications International Ltd, a network services provider for the upstream oil and gas industry for about US$34 million.

The transaction is expected to close by March 25.