Australian Indexes in 6-Day Sell-off, Home Loans Expand 1% in May

Marcus Jacob
09 Jun, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes declined for the sixth session in a row. New home loans in May increased 1% following 1.6% increase in April. Australian dollar held firm below 78 U.S. cents. Nine Entertainment plunged 18% on lowered earnings outlook for the year.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes declined for the sixth session in a row. New home loans in May increased 1% following 1.6% increase in April. Australian dollar held firm below 78 U.S. cents. Nine Entertainment plunged 18% on lowered earnings outlook for the year.[/R]

Stocks in Sydney traded lower after mid-day rally failed to carry on in the final hour of trading.

The seasonally adjusted total number of new home loans issued in May jumped 1% following the 1.6% increase in April, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today.

The value of home loans in May jumped 2.9% to $32.71 billion compared to 1.6% increase in last month.

The department added total number of new home constructed jumped 4.3% to 6,121 while the number of new hone purchased increased 1.6% to 2,766.

Investment lending rose 2.9% to $13.49 billion following 6.4% jump in April and the value of commitments for owner-occupied housing climbed 3.1% to $19.22 billion.

Australian dollar closed at 76.89 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover rose to 773 billion shares worth $5 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index slipped 27.20 or 0.5% to 5,471.30 and the broader All Ordinaries Index fell 26.80 to 5,479.70.

In commodities trading, gold was flat at US$1,178 an ounce and Brent crude rose 0.33 cents to close at US$63.02 a barrel.

IPO

1st Available Limited tumbled 50% to 17.50 cents after the online health booking system priced its stock at 35 cents.

The stock opened at 22 cents and closed at 17.50 cents.

Australian Stock Movers

AngloGold Ashanti Limited surged 10.4% to $2.55 after the gold miner agreed to divest its Cripple Creek & Victor mine in the U.S. to Newmont Mining Corp for $820 million in cash.

Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd plunged 16.1% to $1.66 after the media and entertainment group lowered earnings forecast for the year to a range between $285 million to $290 million mainly due to weaker-than-expected advertising revenues.

Earlier, the company estimated earnings for the year of about $311 million.

Newcrest Mining Limited slipped 1.7% to $13.44 after the gold miner said gold output at its Lihr operation in Papua New Guinea was temporarily disrupted at the weekend due to a dispute with landowners.

The miner said the disruption will not affect its full-year production guidance.

Primary Health Care Limited fell 0.6% to $5.07 after the healthcare company said it may receive $190 million cash refund from the Australian Taxation Office because the payments made for medical practices are tax deductibles.

The company has filed with the tax agency and seeking similar deductions for the financial years between 2010 and 2014 that could yield refund of about $130 million.

Recall Holdings Ltd climbed 3.1% to $7.24 after the information technology provider agreed to be acquired by the U.S.-based logistics company Iron Mountain in a deal worth $3.4 billion.