Weekly Loss of 3% in Australian Index, Macquarie Group Net Up 26%

Marcus Jacob
08 May, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes closed down in late afternoon sell-off and weak China trade data dented sentiment. Macquarie Group said annual net increased 26% and assets under management soared 14%.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes closed down in late afternoon sell-off and weak China trade data dented sentiment. Macquarie Group said annual net increased 26% and assets under management soared 14%.[/R]

Australian market indexes opened higher and were on the way in trimming week’s losses but afternoon sell-off on weaker traded data from China hovered sentiment.

Australian dollar closed at 79.08 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover declined to 655 million shares worth $4.9 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index fell 11.10 or 0.2% to 5,634.60 and the broader All Ordinaries Index slid 9.40 to 5,635.40.

For the week, ASX 200 plunged 3%.

In commodities trading, gold slipped US$5 to US$1,184 an ounce and Brent crude fell 0.29 cents to close at US$65.25 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

ASG Group Limited soared 9.7% to 84.5 cents after the information technology service provider secured contact worth $15 million from Synergy, a natural gas and electricity provider in Western Australia.

Macquarie Group Ltd climbed 3.5% to $79.18 after the financial services provider reported total revenues in the year ending in March soared 14.3% to $9.29 billion form $8.13 billion in a year ago period.

Net income in the year surged 26% to $1.60 billion compared to $1.27 billion and diluted earnings per jumped to $4.84 from $3.69 cents in the same period a year ago.

Macquarie said asset under management in the year climbed 14% to $486 billion while total liabilities jumped 22% to $173.6 billion compared to $142 billion from a year ago period.

PanAust Limited was halted at $1.73 and the copper and gold producer entered in talks with its China-based key shareholder Guangdong Rising Assets Management about takeover offer between $1.84 and $2.04 per share or for about $1.11 billion.

The deal is likely to be agreed in the range of $1.84 to $1.90 per share.

Suncorp Group Ltd fell 0.1% to $12.95 after the general insurance provider stated total lending assets for its banking division in the first-quarter ending in March climbed 3.3% to $52 billion and home loan jumped 4.7%.

Super Retail Group Ltd rose 0.2% to $9.90 after the specialty retailer said total sales in sports division for the 44-week period ending on May 2 climbed 15% and gross margins increased slightly in the Auto division with the 3.5% sales increase.