Australian Markets Lower on Weak Bank Stocks

Marcus Jacob
05 Aug, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes traded weak despite a slight rebound in commodities prices in the region. Skilled Group swung to a quarterly loss after mining and energy companies cut workforce.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney, Australia – Australian market indexes traded weak despite a slight rebound in commodities prices in the region. Skilled Group swung to a quarterly loss after mining and energy companies cut workforce.[/R]

Resource stocks gained despite a weakness in broader market on the back of a slight rebound in commodities prices in the region.

Australian dollar closed at 73.46 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover slid to 819 million shares worth $4.8 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index slipped 23.90 or 0.4% to 5,674 and the broader All Ordinaries Index decreased 22.40 to 5,659.50.

In commodities trading, gold fell US$2 to US$1,087 an ounce and Brent crude rose 0.46 cents to close at US$50.45 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

Decmil Group Limited jumped 2.9% to $1.08 after the mining, oil and gas services provider secured new contracts in Western Australia, Darwin and Queensland totalling $57 million from the Department of Defence.

Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia closed unchanged at $3.51 after the mortgage insurance company said gross written premium in the first-half ending in June jumped 9% to $285.4 million from a year ago period.

The company said net income in the period tumbled 25.4% to $113 million due to losses in mining areas of Queensland and Western Australia.

Skilled Group Ltd advanced 3.8% to $1.64 after the onshore and offshore workforce provider reported revenues in the year ending in June climbed 9.6% to $2.05 billion form $1.87 billion in a year ago period.

Net in the year swung to a loss of $16.69 million compared to profit of $44.20 million and diluted loss per share swung to a 7.08 cents from diluted earnings per share of 18.51 cents in a year ago period.

Shine Corporate Ltd soared 5.5% to $2.71 after the legal services provider agreed to acquire law firm Bradley Bayly, a personal and large catastrophic injury specialist, for about $13.28 million.