Australian Index Weekly Gain of 5.4%

123jump.com Staff
17 Jul, 2009
New York City

Stocks in Australia closed higher as metals and media stocks edged up. The price indexes for exports and imports declined by record amounts since the data have been collected in 1974. Macquarie Countrywide Trust surged 20% after it sold its 75% stake in a portfolio of U.S. properties.

[R]7:00 PM Sydney – Stocks in Australia closed higher as metals and media stocks edged up. The price indexes for exports and imports declined by record amounts since the data have been collected in 1974. Macquarie Countrywide Trust surged 20% after it sold its 75% stake in a portfolio of U.S. properties.[/R]

Australian stocks closed higher for the week after rallying for the last four days in a row as investors regained their confidence ahead of earnings season and acceleration in economic growth in China.

Australian Bureau of Statistics today reported import price index in the quarter ending in June decreased 6.4% and export price index declined 21%.

The import price decline was the largest quarterly decline since the data series began in September 1981 and the fall in export price index was the largest since the origin of data series in September 1974.

ASX 200 index in Australia increased 5.20 or 0.13% to 4,000.80 and the Aussie dollar closed at 79.67 U.S. cents. For the week the benchmark index closed up 5.4%.

Gainers & Losers

Macquarie Countrywide Trust surged 19.4% to 61.5 cents after it agreed to sell its 75% interest in a portfolio of properties in the U.S. for $1.6 billion.

Copper Energy closed nearly unchanged at 41.5 cents after it reported oil production increased 28% for the year.

Woodside Petroleum Limited increased 2.9% to $42.60, Oil Search closed unchanged at $5.41 and Santos Limited increased 1.5% to $14.13.

BHP Billiton increased 0.8% to $35.30, Rio Tinto added 0.2% to $52.48 and Fortescue Metals Group decreased 2% to $3.92. Rio Tinto said that allegations of Chinese government are “wholly without foundation.”

Australia has been in the headlines on another issue as well. While Australian Premier Kevin Rudd said “the whole world is watching” in relation to how China treats the Rio Tinto ‘spy case’, Australia has yet to provide information on the arrests and additional securities to attacked students in Melbourne. Nearly 1,500 students have been attacked in Melbourne in less than a year.

ASX 200 Index Movers

Henderson Group PLC led the decliners in the ASX 200 index of 6.9% followed by losses in Macquarie Media Group Ltd of 6.9%, in Eircom Holdings Limited of 6.4%, in Panoramic Resources Limited of 6.1% and in Downer EDI Limited of 4.9%.

Macquarie CountryWide Trust led gainers in the ASX 200 index with a rise of 19.4% followed by gains in OM Holdings Limited of 11.1%, in Eastern Star Gas Ltd of 7.3% and Atlas Iron Limited of 5.9%.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 51.16 or 0.55% to 9,395.32, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 443.79 or 2.42% to 18,805.66 and CSI 300 index in China higher 18.57 or 0.53% to 3,519.81. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 5.20 or 0.13% to 4,000.80. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed higher 12.02 or 1.08% to 1,120.90.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 7.88 or 0.55% to close at 1,440.10. SET index in Thailand closed higher 13.37 or 2.29% to 596.11 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 11.60 or 0.55% to 2,106.35. The Sensex index in India increased 494.67 or 3.47% to 14,744.92.