Australian Stocks in 9-Day Rally Overlooking Weak Commodities

Marcus Jacob
30 Dec, 2015
New York City

Australian stock markets extended gains for the ninth day in a row in the final week of 2015. Byron Energy Ltd completed $4.5 million stock offering to finance Gulf of Mexico expansion. Hills Limited financial facility was reduced by half.

[R]4:30 PM Sydney – Australian stock markets extended gains for the ninth day in a row in the final week of 2015. Byron Energy Ltd completed $4.5 million stock offering to finance Gulf of Mexico expansion. Hills Limited financial facility was reduced by half.[/R]

Australian indexes extended gains for the ninth day in a row following the overnight gains on Wall Street and in Europe.

The short-term rebound of oil prices also helped energy stocks, but by the market close on Wednesday, the benchmark Brent crude fell back near 11-year lows and traded near the price of the crude variety sold in the U.S.

The large banks, energy and retail shares were leading the gainers, but heavyweight mining shares continued to decline.

Before New Year''s Eve on Thursday, stock market will close earlier in the afternoon.

The Australian dollar gained to 72.95 U.S. cents, while stock trading turnover was fell to 417 million shares worth $3.1 billion.

At the market close, the ASX 200 Index jumped 52.60 or 1% to 5,319.90 and the broader All Ordinaries Index increased 50.80 to 5,366.40.

In commodities trading, gold edged down US$1 to US$1,071 an ounce and Brent crude future for immediate month delivery slid 33 cents to US$37.46 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

Byron Energy Ltd tumbled 10.5% to 17 cents after the oil and gas explorer offered 29.9 million shares $0.15 per share in an attempt to raise $4.5 million for expansion work in the Gulf of Mexico.

The placement price represents an 18.7% discount to the 5 day average price of $0.18.

Bega Cheese Ltd fell 1.5% to $7.17 on profit taking. Shares of the dairy products maker soared nearly 60% in the last four months due to strong domestic and overseas demand for its dairy products and the future potential of its infant formula.

Hills Limited slipped 1.5% to 34 cents after the electronic security systems provider said its financing facility was reduced to $55 million from $110 million.

Hills and its banker agreed to refinance the facilities by the end of February and to classify the debt as current during this period.