Second Day Decline of 1% in Australian Markets, AGL to Restructure

Marcus Jacob
06 Jul, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes declined more than 1% for the second day in a row and oil prices eased after Greece rejected bailout terms set by international lenders. AGL Energy said it plans to focus on core business and sell-off assets and take a restructuring charge.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes declined more than 1% for the second day in a row and oil prices eased after Greece rejected bailout terms set by international lenders. AGL Energy said it plans to focus on core business and sell-off assets and take a restructuring charge.[/R]

Australian market indexes extended losses for the second day after Greece rejected bailout terms set by international lenders in a referendum on Sunday.

The decision was widely feared and had global repercussion with financial markets in Asia turning cautious and oil prices eased.

Australian dollar closed at 74.95 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover declined to 556 million shares worth $3.6 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index dropped 63.30 or 1.1% to 5,475 and the broader All Ordinaries Index slumped 64.70 to 5,463.30.

In commodities trading, gold slid US$2 to US$1,166 an ounce and Brent crude fell 0.50 cents to close at US$59.82 a barrel.

IPO

Netccentric Limited closed unchanged at 23 cents after the online advertising group priced its stock at 20 cents.

The stock opened and closed at 23 cents.

Australian Stock Movers

AGL Energy Ltd slipped 1.8% to $15.54 after the gas and electricity supplier plans to divest its non-core projects and sell-off a number of gas assets and write-down assets as much as $603 million including Hunter Gas project and associated agriculture activities.

The company forecasted operating profit for the year between $575 million and $635 million.

G8 Education Ltd declined 4.1% to $3.05 after the Affinity Education Group appointed advisors to assess a proposed $121 million takeover offer after the company urged shareholders not to act on the offer.

Ingenia Communities Group decreased 1.1% to 44 cents after the real estate developer agreed to acquire second “lifestyle park” in Brisbane for $8.15 million.