Australian Indexes Extend Weekly Loss to 1.5%, Aussie Dollar Rises

Marcus Jacob
30 Apr, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes dropped on weak banks and the Aussie dollar rose after the U.S. economy in the first-quarter nearly stalled. Ten Network said first-half loss widened on restructuring charges. TPG Telecom lifted its stake in Amcom Telecom and vote against the takeover.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes dropped on weak banks and the Aussie dollar rose after the U.S. economy in the first-quarter nearly stalled. Ten Network said first-half loss widened on restructuring charges. TPG Telecom lifted its stake in Amcom Telecom and vote against the takeover.[/R]

Australian market indexes opened lower and struggled to trim losses after the first-quarter economic growth in the U.S. nearly stalled and Federal Reserve issued cautious outlook.

Australian dollar closed at 79.73 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover jumped to 867 million shares worth $6.4 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index fell 48.60 or 0.8% to 5,790 and the broader All Ordinaries Index slumped 44.50 to 5,773.70.

For the week, ASX 200 dropped 1.5% and for the month decreased 0.9%.

In commodities trading, gold slipped US$5 to US$1,204 an ounce and Brent crude slid 0.13 cents to close at US$65.71 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

Drillsearch Energy Limited decreased 1.2% to $1.22 after the oil and gas explorer said total revenues in the third-quarter ending in March plunged 35% to $43.7 million form $66.9 million in a year ago period.

The company said oil production in the quarter declined 14% and liquid petroleum gas production plunged 27%.

Suncorp Group Ltd slid 0.3% to $13.11 after the general insurance company said claims for damages from the widespread winds and rain in eastern New South Wales last week are estimated to cost $135 million and increase the cost for the year in the range of $940 million to $990 million.

Separately, hail storm in Sydney last weekend is also estimated to cost between $50 million and $70 million.

The insurer received 25,000 claims for the recent two weather-related damages.

Ten Network Holdings Limited closed unchanged at 20.5 cents after the commercial television network operator reported revenues in the first-half ending in March dropped 2.2% to $324.3 million from $331.6 million in a year ago period.

Net loss in the period widened to $264.4 million compared to $7.98 million and diluted loss per share increased to 10.22 cents from 0.31 cents in the same period a year ago.

TPG Telecom Ltd slipped 0.8% to $8.94 after the telecommunication company plans to block the merger activity between Amcom and Vocus Communications Limited after increasing its Amcom stake to 18.6%.

TPG has also competing with the M2 group in bidding for iiNet Ltd.

Vmoto Ltd jumped 2.3% to 0.045 cents after the scooter manufacturer reported unit sales in the first-quarter ending in March surged 37% to 19,462 from a year ago period.