11-month Copper High Lift Australia Stocks

123jump.com Staff
29 Aug, 2009
New York City

Australian stocks edged higher as copper races to 11-month high. However the inventories of other base metals are near three to five year highs. Harvey Norman full year sales fall and Sims Metals posted full year net loss. Aquila Resources surges 9% after China based Baosteel acquires 15% stake.

[R]10:35PM Sydney, Australia – Australian stocks edged higher as copper races to 11-month high. However the inventories of other base metals are near three to five year highs. Harvey Norman full year sales fall and Sims Metals posted full year net loss. Aquila Resources surges 9% after China based Baosteel acquires 15% stake.[/R]

Speculators drove prices of copper, zinc and other base metals higher on the latest U.S. economic reports. The data suggested that U.S. consumer confidence is rising, new home sales are higher than expected and sales of durable goods orders are edging higher.

Copper jumped in London and New York trading and closed at 11-month high. Copper in London increased 2% to $6,510 and in New York closed at $2.95 per pound.

However, the inventories of tin, zinc and nickel are running at three year high and severe price correction can follow next month if the expected demand does not materialize.

Of the stocks in S&P ASX 200 index, 126 increased, 60 declined and 14 were unchanged.

ASX Movers

Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group led the decliners in the S&P ASX 200 index with a loss of 12.2% followed by losses in Hastie Group Limited of 6.8%, in Nufarm Limited of 6.0%, in Caltex Australia Limited of 5.8% and in Mincor Resources NL of 5.6%.

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited led gainers in the S&P ASX 200 index with a rise of 16.8% followed by gains in FKP Property Group 16.7%, in AJ Lucas Group Limited of 15.6% and Fleetwood Corporation Limited of 10.4%.

Other Movers

Aquila Resources Ltd surged 9.2% to A$7.15 after China based Baosteel Group agreed to acquire 15% stake in the iron ore and coal company for A$286 million.

BHP Billiton increased 0.5% to A$37.85 and Rio Tinto Limited increased 0.2% to A$57.30.

Caltex Australian Ltd declined 6% to A12.80 after it offered weak outlook for the year and decided to forego interim dividend.

Centrex Metals Ltd increased 2.2% to A$0.47 after the company said that Baotou Iron and Steel Company agreed to take a stake in the iron ore mining joint venture for A$40 million. The Inner Mongolia based company is also building 1.2 million tons iron ore pallet plant in China.

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited increased 16.8% to A$3.74 after the retailer said full-year revenues fell 1.2% to A$2.50 billion from A$2.53 billion a year ago. Net profit for the full-year fell 40% to A$214.4 million compared to net profit of A$358.5 million a year ago.
Nufarm Ltd decreased 6.1% to A$11.34 after the company could not confirm if the takeover by China based Sinochem Corp will be finalized.

Sims Metal Management Limited decreased 2.3% to A$23.05 after the secondary metal recycling industry said full-year revenues rose 12.7% to A$8.6 billion from A$7.7 billion a year ago. Net loss for the full-year was A$150.3 million or 82.9 cents per diluted share compared to net profit of A$440.1 million or 307.9 cents per share per share a year ago.

Sonic Healthcare Limited climbed 8.5% to $13.90 after the pathology services company said full-year revenues rose 27% to A$3.01 billion from A$2.38 billion a year ago. Net profit for the full-year fell 30% to A$171.4 million or 46.3 cents compared to net profit of A$245.1 million or 73.5 per share a year ago.