Australian Stocks rebound, Job Postings Drop

123jump.com Staff
08 Dec, 2008
New York City

Stocks in Australia surged. Job postings dropped 8.6% in November and in metropolitan newspapers plunged 12%. Stocks surged after news reports suggested China National Petroleum may bid for Santos in partnership with foreign oil company.

[R]3:00AM New York, 7:00PM Sydney – Stocks in Australia surged. Job postings fell sharply in November.[/R]

Australia market averages sharply on bargain hunting and on reports that China National Petroleum Corp. is looking for a partner to bid for Santos.

In Sydney trading ASX 200 rose 4.1% or 141.7 to 3,631.60.

Of the ASX 200 index stocks 164 rose, 30 declined, and 6 were unchanged. Abacus Property led advancers in the index shares with a rise of 18.6% followed by Leighton Holdings gaining 14.7%.

Job Advertisements Drop 8.6% in November

Australia and New Banking Group reported today that the total number of jobs advertised in major metropolitan newspapers and on-line dropped 8.6% in November from 5.9% in October to a weekly average of 211,199 per week.

The total number of advertisements declined 18.6% in the review period from the same period a year ago.

Job advertisements in major metropolitan newspapers fell 12% to an average of 11,767 per week compared to a drop of 12.1% in October.

Overall, newspaper advertisements are 42.7% lower than in November 2007.

Largest declines were recorded in Northern Territory shedding 17.4%, Queensland dropping 16.6%, Western Australia declining 14.9%, South Australia sliding 14.2% and Victoria falling 12.6%.

Also offers in Tasmania plunged 9.5% and in New South Wales plummeted 8%.

Jobs advertised on the Internet fell 8.4% to average 199,433 per week in November.

ANZ Head of Australian Economics Warren Hogan said, “As a leading indicator of economic conditions in Australia, the latest job advertisements data suggest the global financial crisis has had a substantial impact on the Australian economy in the December quarter.”

According to the report, there is a relationship between newspaper job advertisements and employment over the following six months.

ANZ notes that if the current weakness in job ads is sustained there will be contraction in total employment over the first six months of 2009.

Gainers & Losers

Abacus Property led gainers in the ASX 200 index shares with a rise of 18.6% followed by increases in Leighton Holdings of 14.7%, in NRW Holdings of 14.6%, in Ten Network of 14%, and Gud Holdings of 13.4%.

Babcock & Brown led decliners in the ASX 200 index shares with a fall of 35.3% followed by losses in ING Office Fund of 17.7%, in Babcock & Brown of 11%, in Macquarie Office of 10.6%, and Straits Residential Ltd. of 10.4%.

Commodity stocks fell after gold prices $13.30 to $752.2 per barrel and oil prices slid $2.86 to $40.8 per barrel. Platinum Australia plunged 5.7%, Sundance Resources plummeted 4.7%, Minara Resources shed 4.4%, and Riversdale Mining slid 3%.

China National Petroleum to Bid For Sasntos

South China Morning Post reported today that China National Petroleum Corp. along with a foreign oil company is likely to bid for Santos.

Earlier Santos announced that it will delay its Reindeer gas project, offshore in Western Australia due to the deteriorating global financial markets.