Australian Dollar Rises; Unemployment Falls

123jump.com Staff
07 May, 2009
New York City

Australian stocks surged after the unexpected fall in the unemployment rate and a rise in international prices of metals and energy. The Australian dollar gained against most currencies after the unemployment rate declined to 5.4% in April and crude oil price jumped above $56 a barrel.

[R]8:00PM Sydney, Australia – Australian stocks surged after the unexpected fall in the unemployment rate and a rise in international prices of metals and in energy. The Australian dollar gained against most currencies.[/R]

The sustained rise in commodities prices and an increase in risk appetite for risks lifted the benchmark stock index and the dollar.

ASX 200 index in Australia increased 71.60 or 1.85% closed to 3,938.70.

The Australian dollar surged to seven-month high after the unemployment report and a rise in six basic commodities prices in London and New York. The dollar increased to 75.205 U.S. cents and gained to 74.27 yen.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported April employment increased by 27,300 to 10,798,900. Full-time employment increased by 49,100 to 7,672,700 and part-time employment decreased by 21,800 to 3,126,200.

The unemployment rate declined to 5.4% from 5.7% in the month. However, economists are still looking for the unemployment rate to rise above 8% in the next one year.

ASX Index Movers

Of the stocks in ASX 200 index, 122 increased, 69 declined and 9 were unchanged.

ING Office Fund led the decliners in the ASX 200 index of 7.6% followed by losses in Babcock & Brown Japan Property Trust of 9.8%, in Mirvac Group of 5.2%, in Challenger Financial Services Group Limited of 5.0% and in JB Hi-Fi Limited of 5.0%.

Macquarie Media Group led gainers in the ASX 200 index with a rise of 19.5% followed by gains in Sundance Resources Limited of 19.0%, in BlueScope Steel Limited of 14.0% and David Jones Limited of 13.1%.

Other Movers

Sundance Resources Limited rose 3 cents to A$0.14 after China reported record increase in iron or imports in April. The company also recently raised US$10.75 million in public offering.

Banks increased in the rally today. National Australian Bank Ltd increased 1.1% to A$22.12 and Westpac Banking Corp increased 1.8% to A$20.31.

Energy and mining resource stocks led gainers. BHP Billiton Ltd increased 5.3% to A$35.69, Rio Tinto Group added 2.8% to A$71.04 and Woodside Petroleum Ltd closed up 3.7% to A$43.56. Western Areas NL surged 9.3% to A$5.30.

David Jones Ltd. surged 11% to A$3.64 on a broker recommendation.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 408.33 or 4.55% to 9,385.70, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 383.32 or 2.28% closed to 17,217.89, CSI 300 index in China higher 2.10 or 0.08% closed to 2,767.08. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 71.60 or 1.85% closed to 3,938.70. The KL Composite index in Malaysia lower 0.49 or 0.05% closed to 1,023.47.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 7.63 or 0.55% to close at 1,401.08. SET index in Thailand closed higher 4.57 or 0.87% to 527.72 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 30.52 or 1.70% closed to 1,828.85. The Sensex index in India increased 164.19 or 1.37% closed to 12,116.94.