Recession Fears Drive Australian Stocks Lower

123jump.com Staff
06 Mar, 2009
New York City

Australian benchmark index fell 1.4% after Reserve Bank of Australia board member and chairman of Telstra warned that economic conditions in the country are deteriorating precipitously. Australian economy is expected to slip into recession during the second half of this year.

[R]3:00AM New York, 7:00PM Sydney - New Zealand cash deficit rises to NZ$5.78 billion in seven months ending January 31.[/R]

Australian benchmark index fell 1.4% after Reserve Bank of Australia board member and chairman of Telstra warned that economic conditions in the country are deteriorating precipitously.

Australian economy is expected to slip into recession during the second half of this year.

In Sydney trading ASX 200 index dropped 1.4% or 43 to 3,145.50, falling 6% in the week.

Of the ASX 200 index stocks, 57 increased, 129 declined, and 14 were unchanged. Macquarie Countrywide led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 16.7% followed by Emeco Holdings gaining 11.1%.

New Zealand Cash Deficit at NZ$5.78 billion

New Zealand Treasury reported today that the country’s cash deficit rose to NZ$5.78 billion in the seven months ending January 31 as tax receipts fell NZ$769 than forecasted.

Also company tax receipts were NZ$398 million less than projected.

Separately, Statistics New Zealand reported yesterday that the total wholesale trade fell 2.3% in the three months to December in seasonally adjusted terms after falling 1% in the September quarter.

The sales decline was due to a reclassification of some activity from primary product food wholesaling to manufacturing.

Metals and mineral wholesaling contributed the most to the fall, slipping 19.1%; electrical and electronic equipment wholesaling 11.4%; and primary product food wholesaling 5%.

In addition, seasonally adjusted wholesale stocks for the December 2008 quarter fell 3.8% dragged by a weakness in petroleum product wholesaling plunging to NZ$669 million and motor vehicle wholesaling declining NZ$225 million.

RBA Board Member Donald McGauchie Warns on Outlook

Dow Jones reported the Reserve Bank of Australia board member and chairman of Telstra Donald McGauchie warned at the American Chamber of Commerce today that though the economic conditions are progressively deteriorating, there was need to rally behind policymakers.


Gainers & Losers

Macquarie Countrywide led advancers in the ASX 200 index shares with a rise of 16.7% followed by increases in Emeco Holdings of 11.1%, in Macquarie Communications of 7.5%, in Spotless Group of 6.7%, and Lihir Gold of 5%.

Lihir Gold soared as gold prices jumped 2.3% to 927.8 per ounce.

Hastings Diversified Utilities led decliners in the ASX 200 index shares with a fall of 32.1% followed by losses in Macquarie DDR of 18.2%, in Tishman Speyer of 14.8%, in Sunland Corp of 13.9%, and Connecteast Group of 12.5%.

ANZ Agrees to A$253 million Settlement with Opes Prime

ANZ bank reported today that it has agreed on a settlement of A$253 million with the liquidators of Opes Prime, representing a return of 80 Australian cents on the dollar to close positions.

The A$253 million in cash and other assets represents the global settlement amount for all parties involved.