Ninth Decline in 10 Days in Iron Ore Prices, Australian Indexes Dive

Marcus Jacob
26 Jun, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes traded down and extended weekly losses after iron ore prices declined for the ninth time in the last ten days as traders eye $60 a ton price for China delivery. Bradken plunged 13% after it agreed to an investment deal with a consortium of private equity groups.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes traded down and extended weekly losses after iron ore prices declined for the ninth time in the last ten days as traders eye $60 a ton price for China delivery. Bradken plunged 13% after it agreed to an investment deal with a consortium of private equity groups.[/R]

Australian market indexes dropped as iron ore prices resumed the decline and Greek worries circulated Asian markets.

The price of iron ore declined nine in the last ten trading days and touched to US$61.70 a ton in the spot market for China delivery.

In yesterday’s session, the prices rose 2%, a lone price increase in the last ten sessions of trading.

Australian dollar closed at 77.17 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover jumped to 955 million shares worth $7.7 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index slumped 86.80 or 1.5% to 5,545.90 and the broader All Ordinaries Index decreased 83.80 to 5,536.10.

For the week, ASX 200 decreased 0.9%.

In commodities trading, gold slipped US$4 to US$1,174 an ounce and Brent crude fell 0.25 cents to close at US$62.97 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

Bradken Limited plunged 11.3% to $1.52 after the heavy engineering company said that a consortium of Sigdo Koppers and CHAMP Private Equity agreed to invest about $70 million in the company.

Qantas Airways Limited dropped 3.7% to $3.12 after the Hong Kong rejected the Australian carrier’s plan to set up a budget airline in the Chinese territory.

Tower Limited closed unchanged at $2 after the New Zealand-based life and general insurance and investment group said net premium revenues in the first-half ending in March jumped 8% to $150.4 million from $139.2 million in a year ago period.

Net in the period swung to a loss of $4.9 million compared to a profit of $13.1 million and diluted loss per share was 0.12 cents from diluted earnings per share of 1.57 cents in the same period a year ago.