Australian Economic Growth Ahead of Expectations

Marcus Jacob
03 Jun, 2015
New York City

Australian dollar gained after economy expanded at faster-than-expected rate in the first-quarter. Domestic consumption led the economic expansion however business investment remained weak.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian dollar gained after economy expanded at faster-than-expected rate in the first-quarter. Domestic consumption led the economic expansion however business investment remained weak.[/R]

Stocks in Sydney closed down and market indexed dropped nearly 1% in active trading.

Seasonally adjusted gross domestic product in the first-quarter expanded by 2.3% from the 0.9% rate in the same period a year ago, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today.

Seasonally adjusted final consumption expenditure jumped 2.4% compared to 0.5% from the fourth-quarter.

Australian dollar closed at 78.04 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover gained to 792 billion shares worth $5.7 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index slumped 52.40 or 0.9% to 5,583.60 and the broader All Ordinaries Index decreased 51.60 to 5,588.30.

In commodities trading, gold rose US$4 to US$1,192 an ounce and Brent crude fell 0.48 cents to close at US$65.01 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

360 Capital Industrial Fund slipped 0.8% to $2.46 after the real estate developer is in talk to acquire Australian Industrial REIT for $68 million in cash.

The company revised higher its annual earnings estimate by 7.5% and 5% respectively.

DBS Bank Ltd, the Singapore-based financial services provider said the bank received regulatory approval to carry banking activities in Australia and the bank is scheduled to open its first branch in Sydney by the end of this month.

Patties Foods Limited increased 0.8% to $1.21 after the frozen food company forecasted net profit for the year to drop to about $15 million from $16.7 million from a year ago period.

The company blamed the loss of $1.5 million on frozen berries recall in February after a Hepatitis A scare.

The company’s earnings announcement is scheduled for August 24.

Rio Tinto Limited gained 1.8% to $57.50 and the mining company said the merger of its Brisbane-based coal unit with London-based copper unit is estimated to save about $26 million.