Australian Indexes Jump 1.5% on a Rebound in Iron Ore Price

Marcus Jacob
24 Apr, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes jumped 1.5% on the rebound in iron ore price and tech stocks. In active trading, stocks and Aussie dollar edged higher. ResMed plunged on weaker than expected quarterly results. Mount Gibson Iron reaffirmed its annual outlook.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes jumped 1.5% on the rebound in iron ore price and tech stocks. In active trading, stocks and Aussie dollar edged higher. ResMed plunged on weaker than expected quarterly results. Mount Gibson Iron reaffirmed its annual outlook.[/R]

Australian market indexes surged following a rise in iron ore price and a rebound in tech stocks.

Australian dollar closed at 77.73 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover advanced to 843 million shares worth $7 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index climbed 88.50 or 1.5% to 5,933.30 and the broader All Ordinaries Index jumped 86.50 to 5,906.80.

For the week, the ASX 200 index increased 0.8%.

In commodities trading, gold gained US$3 to US$1,192 an ounce and Brent crude slid 0.13 cents to close at US$64.72 a barrel.

In New York trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index jumped to a high seen fifteen years ago after Facebook, eBay and other tech companies reported quarterly results.

Australian Stock Movers

Mount Gibson Iron Limited soared 7.7% to 21 cents after the iron ore producer said revenue in the first-quarter ending in March was about $60 million with an average realized iron ore price of US$47 a metric ton.

The company said iron ore sales in the quarter was 1,073 million wet metric tons and cash at the end of March quarter on hand was $324 million.

ResMed Inc plunged 9.7% to $8.46 after the diagnostic products maker reported revenues in the third-quarter ending in March climbed 6% to $422.50 million from $397.76 million in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter to increase 1% to $90.98 million compared to $89.97 million and diluted earnings per share rose 2% to 64 cents from 63 cents in the same period a year ago.

Xero Limited tumbled 10.3% to $20.32 after the New Zealand focused online accounting services provider said subscription revenue in the year ending in March surged 78% to $127.2 million from $71.5 million in a year ago period.

Net loss in the year widened to $69.53 million compared to $35.55 million and diluted loss per share increased to 55 cents from 29 cents in the same period a year ago.