Australian Indexes Reverse on China Stimulus Hopes

Marcus Jacob
31 Mar, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes reversed a week-long slump on the hopes that the Bank of China will follow through and provide additional monetary stimulus. Touchcorp, Genetic Signatures and OtherLevels completed public offerings.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes reversed a week-long slump on the hopes that the Bank of China will follow through and provide additional monetary stimulus. Touchcorp, Genetic Signatures and OtherLevels completed public offerings.[/R]

Australian market indexes opened higher but lost steam in the afternoon but still managed to gain in above average trading volume.

Talks of additional stimulus in China lifted market averages around the world and Australian indexes participated in the rally.

At close, the ASX 200 Index jumped 45.40 or 0.8% to 5,891.50 and the broader All Ordinaries Index increased 45.60 to 5,861.90.

In March, ASX 200 slipped 0.7% and in the first-quarter of 2015 the reference index surged 8.9%.

Australian dollar closed at 76.34 U.S. cents.

In commodities trading, gold declined US$11 to US$1,183 an ounce and Brent crude slumped US$1.33 to close at US$54.96 a barrel.

IPO

Touchcorp Limited surged 10.7% to $1.55 after the electronic payment software services provider priced its offering at $1.40. The stock opened at $1.60 and closed at $1.52.

OtherLevels Limited soared 17.5% to 23.5 cents after the digital marketing platform provider priced its stock at 20 cents. The stock opened at 27.5 cents and closed at 23.5 cents.

Genetic Signatures Limited, the molecular diagnostics company priced its stock at 40 cents. The stock opened at 48 cents and a closed at 49 cents.

Australian Stock Movers

Ansell Limited slipped 0.8% to $27.55 after the protective clothing gloves maker agreed to acquire the U.K.-based rival Microgard Ltd for about $113 million.

The transaction is expected to close in the second-quarter.

Blackmores Limited soared 11.3% to $54.55 after the vitamins and nutritional supplements maker forecasted third-quarter sales to increase 10% from the previous quarter and net profit to increase 20%.

Third-quarter financial results are scheduled to release on April 28.