Westpac Raises $3.5 B, Gunns Raises A$115 M

Darlington Musarurwa
02 Sep, 2009
New York City

Australian stocks edged lower tracking overnight losses in New York and European markets. Westpac completed $3.5 billion of bond offering. Nexus Energy plans to raise A$74 million and Gunns Limited plunged 12.6% after it completed A$115 million offering.

[R]10:35PM Sydney, Australia – Australian stocks edged lower tracking overnight losses in New York and European markets. Westpac completed $3.5 billion of bond offering. Nexus Energy plans to raise A$74 million and Gunns Limited plunged 12.6% after it completed A$115 million offering.[/R]

ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 76.40 or 1.69% to 4,438.20. Of the stocks in the index, 36 increased, 147 declined and 17 were unchanged.

Other Movers

BHP Billiton Limited fell 1.7% to A$36.64 on weak commodities prices and a weakness in crude oil prices.

CSR Limited dropped 3.6% to A$1.98 after the manufacture and supplier of building products has not received any offer for its sugar division.

Gunns Limited slumped 12.6% to A$1.00 after the woodchip exporter announces completion of A$115 million institutional offer.

National Australia Bank Limited decreased 3.0% to A$28.30.

Nexus Energy Limited tumbled 11.3% to A$0.350 after the oil company plans to raise A$74 million through rights issue. Santos Limited the oil and gas explorer declined 2.1% to A$15.44.

Suncorp-Metway Ltd dropped 1.2% to A$7.65.

Wesfarmers Limited decreased 0.2% to A$25.53 after the retailer is looking to sell bonds with interest rate of 275 basis points more than the benchmark Treasury bonds.

Westpac Banking Corporation slipped 2.3% to A$24.27 after the lender and others in the banking industry may start returning A$16 billion of capital to investors next year according to Credit Suisse Group AG.

Westpac sold $3.5 billion of bonds backed by the government. The U.S. dollar denominated $2.5 billion note pays 28 basis points above the benchmark rate and the rest of the offering has floating rate above 28 basis points to the 3-month Libor rate according to a report on Bloomberg News.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd fell 2.6% to A$47.25.

ASX Movers

Nexus Energy Limited led the decliners in the S&P ASX 200 index with a loss of 11.3% followed by losses in PMP Limited of 9.3%, in Gunns Limited of 8.7%, in Energy World Corporation Limited of 7.1% and in Minara Resources Limited of 6.9%.

Transpacific Industries Group Ltd led gainers in the S&P ASX 200 index with a rise of 6.2% followed by gains in Astro Japan Property Trust 4.7%, in Tower Australia Group Limited of 4.0% and Roc Oil Company Limited of 3.8%.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 249.60 or 2.37% to 10,280.46, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 350.30 or 1.76% to 19,522.00 and CSI 300 index in China higher 47.23 or 1.66% to 2,890.93. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 76.40 or 1.69% to 4,438.20. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed lower 3.27 or 0.28% to 1,168.01.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 9.90 or 0.61% to close at 1,613.16. SET index in Thailand closed higher 0.00 or 0.00% to 654.12 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 40.99 or 1.76% to 2,285.92. The Sensex index in India decreased 83.73 or 0.54% to 15,467.46.