Australian Indexes Jump 1%, Record Monthly New Home Construction

Marcus Jacob
15 Jul, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes advanced after China reported 7% economic growth in the second quarter and the monthly new home construction surged above 200,000 home for the first time in Australia. Select Harvests soared more than 9%.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes advanced after China reported 7% economic growth in the second quarter and the monthly new home construction surged above 200,000 home for the first time in Australia. Select Harvests soared more than 9%.[/R]

Market indexes in Sydney surged more than 1% after China reported better-than-expected quarterly economic growth and new housing starts jumped to record high in the last one year.

June quarter gross domestic product in China rose 7% on the back of 6.8% in industrial production and 10.6% rise in retail sales, according to the data released by the statistics office.

In addition, new home construction in twelve months to March rose to record high of 203,760, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The seasonally adjusted total number of new motor vehicle sales in June jumped 3.8% to 97,620 compared to May and 4% from a year ago month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

Sales for passenger and sports utility vehicles climbed 5.4% and 3.3% respectively while other vehicles sales increased by 1.1%. In June, new motor vehicle sales in seven of the eight states increase from May.

Australian dollar closed at 74.71 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover rose to 714 million shares worth $4.7 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index jumped 58.80 or 1.1% to 5,636.20 and the broader All Ordinaries Index gained 57.10 to 5,619.

In commodities trading, gold was flat at US$1,155 an ounce and Brent crude added 18 cents to close at US$58.69 a barrel.

IPO

amaysim Australia Limited soared 8.6% to $1.90 after the mobile service provider priced its stock at $1.80.

The stock opened at $1.75 and closed at $1.90.

Australian Stock Movers

Bradken Limited surged 16.8% to $1.25 after the heavy engineering company confirmed its annual earnings guidance for operating profit in the range of $136 million to $138 million and reported net debt of about $410 million.

The company also confirmed it is in merger talks with Chilean conglomerate Magotteaux in cooperation with CHAMP Private Equity and Sigdo Koppers.

Macquarie Group Ltd rose 0.5% to $82.29 after the financial services provider plans to bid for New South Wales electricity network operator TransGrid.

Select Harvests Limited soared 9.3% to $12.24 after the nut and health food producer said it raised price estimates for its almonds to $11.45 a kilogram from $11.

The dried fruits producer estimated 14,500 tons of almond production, 8.2% higher than the previous forecast.