Australian Stocks Fall 2.3%

123jump.com Staff
07 Jan, 2008
New York City

Stocks in Australia fell sharply after investors worried that U.S. economic slow-down may spark a fall in commodities prices. ASX 200 index fell 2.3% or 145.20 to close at 6,161.60. Rio Tinto expressed an interest in acquiring Canada based Xemplar Energy. Xemplar controls uranium deposits in Namibia. ANZ was the second largest bank in Australia to raise interest rate in the last two days. Lynas Corp led the gainers and Fortescue led the decliners in the ASX 200 index.

[R]4:00AM New York, 8:00PM Sydney – Australian stocks fell after investors confronted a possible slow-down in the U.S. economy.[/R]

ASX 200 index lost 2.3% or 145.2 to close at 6,161.60.

The Preliminary market turnover was 11.637 billion shares, worth $4.629 billion, with 294 stocks moving up, 1,011 moving down, and 309 unchanged. The most actively traded stock was Gondwana Resources with 365.94 million shares worth $15.3 million.

Mining Giant, Rio Tinto is reported to be interested in making a bid for Canadian uranium explorer Xemplar Energy. According to the media reports, Rio is eyeing Xemplar Energy’s recent uranium deposits find in Namibia, which is believed to be one of the world''s largest uranium deposits in Namibia.

Xemplar is waiting for independent verification of its uranium discovery. Rio already has stakes in two uranium mines, one in the Northern Territory and another in Namibia.


Rio''s interest in Xemplar comes after BHP Billiton made an informal £67 billion ($150 billion) takeover offer. Rio has rejected BHP''s offer, saying it was too low. Rio''s share fell 2.2%.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd today raised its variable home loan rate by 0.2% points to 8.77% for new and existing customers. The second Australian bank has raised rates in Australia, even when the central bank has not raised interest rate.

National Australia Bank Ltd was the first to hike its rate when it raised its variable rate by 0.12% to 8.69 % last week.

The last round of increases in borrowing charges was in November when the central bank increased its key rate by a quarter of a percentage point. ANZ''s share fell 2.6% and National Australia declined 2.8%.

The Australian dollar closed weaker today after a choppy session that saw demand for the local currency was boosted as Japanese investors sold yen.

At the close, the Australian dollar was trading at $0.8730/35, down from Friday''s close of $0.8811/16.

Of the ASX 200 index shares, Lynas Corp Limited led the gainers with a rise of 7.2% followed by increases in Boart Longyear Group of 2.2%, in Asciano of 1.8%, in PMP Limited of 1.1%, and in Flight Centre of 1.1%.

Of the ASX 200 index stocks Fortescue Metals led the decliners with a fall of 13.3% followed by losses in Independence Group of 8.8%, in AED Oil Limited of 7.2%, in Zinifex Limited of 7.1 and in Henderson of 6.7%.