Weekly Loss of 2.5% in Australia, Woodside Approves $2.7 B Gas Project

Marcus Jacob
11 Dec, 2015
New York City

The Australian market extended losses and finished the week 2.5% lower as commodities reach multi-year lows. BC Iron suspended operations of Direct Shipping Ore mine. Woodside Petroleum approved natural gas development project with an estimated cost of $2.7 billion.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney, Australia – The Australian market extended losses and finished the week 2.5% lower as commodities reach multi-year lows. BC Iron suspended operations of Direct Shipping Ore mine. Woodside Petroleum approved natural gas development project with an estimated cost of $2.7 billion.[/R]

The Australian market continued to decline as blue-chip mining and energy stocks plunged as commodities reach new multi-year lows.

Investors are also cautious ahead China’s industrial production and retail sales release, closely linked to commodity prices, and the U.S. Federal Reserve decision on interest rate next week.

BC Iron suspended its operations of Direct Shipping Ore mine and cited sharp and sustained fall in ore prices.

On the positive side, Woodside Petroleum approved natural gas development project with an estimated cost of $2.7 billion.

Dicker Data said revenues for fiscal surpassed $1 billion.

The Australian dollar slipped to 72.50 U.S. cents and trading turnover decreased to 761 million shares worth $4.2 billion.

At the market close, the ASX 200 Index edged down 8.20 or 0.2% to 5,029.50, while the broader All Ordinaries Index fell 8.90 to 5,078.60.

For the week, ASX 200 dropped 2.5%.

In commodities trading, gold dropped US$8 to US$1,068 an ounce and Brent crude future for immediate month delivery slid 10 cents to US$39.63 a barrel.

IPO

TopBetta Holdings Limited declined 5% to 19.5 cents after the betting company priced its stock at 20 cents.

The stock opened and closed at 19 cents.

Kingsland Global surged 15% to 23 cents after the property developer priced its stock at 20 cents.

The stock opened at 21 cents and closed at 23 cents.

Australian Stock Movers

BC Iron Limited tumbled 23.7% to 14.5 cents after the iron ore producer said it has temporarily suspended operations of Direct Shipping Ore at Nullagine joint venture ore mine, or NJV.

BC Iron owns 75% of NJV and Fortescue owns the remaining 25%.

NJV has around 11 million tons of low-grade stockpiled ore and BC Iron will undertake a trial to sell an unprocessed parcel to Fortescue.

If the trial is successful, the mine will continue to operate at a reduced rate and sell low-grade ore to Fortescue on an ongoing basis.

Dicker Data Ltd gained 1.2% to $1.72 after the computer hardware and software distributor said its revenues had surpassed the $1 billion mark in fiscal 2015, following the acquisition of Express Data Holdings.

Last week, the company lifted its pre-tax profit outlook to $31.5 million.

Woodside Petroleum Limited increased 0.7% to $27.04 after the oil and gas producer and its partners approved the development project of Shelf Project in Western Australia for extraction of natural gas with an estimated cost of $2.7 billion.

Yesterday, the company withdrew its $8 billion unsolicited bid for Oil Search Ltd.