Gindalbe Surges on Approval in Australia

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

Australian stocks were firm as gold advanced for the seventh session in a row. Gindalbie Metals increased after it received state government approval for its iron mining operations in Western Australia. BHP Billiton and Noble Energy swap stakes in the Gulf of Mexico oil fields.

[R]8:00 AM Sydney, Australia – Australian stocks were firm as gold advanced for the seventh session in a row. Gindalbie Metals increased after it received state government approval for its iron mining operations in Western Australia. BHP Billiton and Noble Energy swap stakes in the Gulf of Mexico oil fields.][/R]


Stocks in Australia edged lower as commodities and crude oil prices edged higher in Asia and international trading. Gold increased for the seventh day in a row as the U.S. dollar fell.

New Zealand left its key lending rate unchanged and the central bank anticipates slow recovery from the recession.

Of the stocks in S&P ASX 200 index, 88 increased, 94 declined and 18 were unchanged.

ASX Movers

Lynas Corporation Limited led the decliners in the S&P ASX 200 index with a loss of 12.5% followed by losses in Macmahon Holdings Limited of 6.4%, in Macquarie Office Trust of 5.3 %, in Linc Energy Ltd of 4.8% and in Mount Gibson Iron Limited of 4.5%.

Medusa Mining Limited led gainers in the S&P ASX 200 index with a rise of 11.7% followed by gains in GWA International Limited 7.8%, in Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group of 6.9% and in OM Holdings Limited of 6.4%.

Other Movers

ABB Grain Ltd added 1.4% to A$9.13 after the agricultural commodities marketer said 84% shareholders voted in favor of merger with Canadian company, Viterra. The takeover was announced in July and requires approval from more than 50% of voting shareholders and 75% of the total combined shareholdings. The proposal had unanimous support from the ABB board.

The combined company will control 37% of world exports of wheat, barley and canola according the Viterra.

BHP Billiton and Noble Energy agreed to swap 30% stake in Double Mountain and Deep Blue projects in the Gulf of Mexico. BHP Billiton operates Double Mountain project has equivalent of 100 million barrels of oil and is located at 3,750 feet deep.

Noble Energy is located at a depth of 5,100 feet and has equivalent of 200 million barrels of oil.

Gindalbie Metals Limited rose 5.1% to A$0.920 after the company received final approval for the construction on its 10 million tons per year iron ore joint venture in Western Australia. The company plans to start the construction next month.

Anshan Iron & Steel Group based in China controls 36% of the company and plans to complete the Karar mining and steel plant located about 140 miles east of Geraldton n Western Australia with the initial mining capacity of 8 million tons.

Qantas Airways Limited increased 3.6% to A$2.54 said is seeking to sell its stake in Fiji''s national carrier Air Pacific to block the route expansion of Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd.

Macquarie Group Limited decreased 1.3% to A$49.72 and separately India based NTPC retained the bank to evaluate the purchase of coal mines in Indonesia according to an interview of Chairman R.S. Sharma with Bloomberg News. Indonesia exports 60% of 240 million tons of thermal coal production. India is expected add 12,777 MW of power generation capacity in the current fiscal year with 50% of production reliant on thermal.

Newcrest Mining Limited the gold producer rose 1.5% to A$34.26.

St Barbara Limited increased 3.2% to A$0.320 and Tabcorp Holdings Limited added 1.8% to A$7.10.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 81.09 or 0.78% to 10,312.14, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 218.77 or 1.04% to 20,851.04 and CSI 300 index in China higher 23.94 or 0.76% to 3,194.91. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 1.60 or 0.04% to 4,522.20. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed lower 5.61 or 0.47% to 1,196.46.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 11.92 or 0.74% to close at 1,607.77. SET index in Thailand closed higher 3.86 or 0.56% to 695.59 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 12.04 or 0.51% to 2,383.34. The Sensex index in India increased 59.88 or 0.37% to 16,183.55.