Australian Stocks Advance on Metal Prices

123jump.com Staff
08 Sep, 2009
New York City

Australian stocks edged higher after a steady rise in copper, gold and silver prices. SUNCORP completed its bond offering of A$1 billion guaranteed by the Australian government.

[R]10:30 PM Sydney, Australia – Australian stocks edged higher after a steady rise in copper, gold and silver prices. SUNCORP completed its bond offering of A$1 billion guaranteed by the Australian government.[/R]

Australian investor confidence index increased as markets rebound according to the Australian Investment and Financial Services Association. The index increased three percentage points to plus five after dipping to -22.3 points in March at the depth of the market sell-off.

ASX 200 index in Australia increased 69.40 or 1.56% to 4,523.80. Of the stocks in the index, 143 increased, 46 declined and 11 were unchanged.

SUNCORP completed bond offering of A$200 million fixed rate 5.75% and A$800 million floating rate notes. The offering of bonds maturing in 2013 was lead managed y RBC Capital. The A$1 billion was guaranteed by the Australian government.

ASX Movers

Carnarvon Petroleum Limited led the decliners in the S&P ASX 200 index with a loss of 5.7% followed by losses in Virgin Blue Holdings Limited of 5.4%, in ConnectEast Group of 5.4%, in Stockland Corporation Limited of 4.4% and in Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group of 4.4%.

Macmahon Holdings Limited led gainers in the S&P ASX 200 index with a rise of 13.0% followed by gains in Macquarie Media Group 12.4%, in Mount Gibson Iron Limited of 8.9% and in Ten Network Holdings Limited of 7.7%.

Other Movers

Atlas Iron Limited added 6.2% to A$1.77 an Australian iron ore producer agreed to merge with Warwick Resources Limited.

BHP Billiton Limited the mining company rose 2.1% to A$37.58 after gold crossed $1,000 an ounce and silver surged above $16.50 in international trading.

Katana Capital Limited the investment company closed unchanged at A$0.650.

National Australia Bank Limited increased 3.7% to A$28.34.

Newcrest Mining Limited added 3.6% to A$33.75 after gold surged near yearly high.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 72.29 or 0.70% to 10,393.23, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 440.50 or 2.14% to 21,069.81 and CSI 300 index in China higher 66.76 or 2.15% to 3,170.97. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 69.40 or 1.56% to 4,523.80. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed higher 11.68 or 0.98% to 1,202.07.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 11.12 or 0.69% to close at 1,619.69. SET index in Thailand closed higher 9.16 or 1.34% to 691.73 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 30.91 or 1.32% to 2,371.30. The Sensex index in India increased 107.35 or 0.67% to 16,123.67.