Australian Stocks Ride Commodities Prices

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

Australian stocks are likely to open higher as commodities prices closed up and Australian dollar edged higher in New York trading. The dollar fell against the euro, the pound and the yen. Rio Tinto completed one more asset sale to lower its debt. Babcock & Brown board selects recapitalization plan.

[R]6:30 AM Sydney, Australia – Australian stocks are likely to open higher as commodities prices closed up and Australian dollar edged higher in New York trading. The dollar fell against the euro, the pound and the yen. Rio Tinto completed one more asset sale to lower its debt. Babcock & Brown board selects recapitalization plan.[/R]

Australian stocks are expected to open higher as commodities prices increased in New York and crude oil closed at $71.84 and gold at $1,016.

Of the stocks in S&P ASX 200 index, 63 increased, 128 declined and 9 were unchanged.

Telstra shareholders show more discontent with the government plan to split the company as government ignores shareholders’ concerns.

ASX Movers

Extract Resources Limited led the decliners in the S&P ASX 200 index with a loss of 8.2% followed by losses in Molopo Australia Limited of 7.1%, in ConnectEast Group of 6.6%, in Macquarie CountryWide Trust of 5.7% and in Goodman Group of 4.6%.

Linc Energy Ltd led gainers in the S&P ASX 200 index with a rise of 8.6% followed by gains in Minara Resources Limited 7.6%, in Lynas Corporation Limited of 6.7% and in Boart Longyear Limited of 5.1%.

Other Movers

Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group fell 3.7% to A$0.05 has reached late-stage recapitalization talks with Brookfield Asset Management and its lenders. However, a group of global hedge funds also made a non-binding proposal to recapitalize the company on Sept 17 and the board and advisers Gresham, Credit Suisse and Macquarie Capital are considering the alternative offer.

Linc Energy Ltd the coal resource explorer rose 8.6% to A$1.88.

Macquarie Group Limited, an investment bank increased 0.8% to A$54.79.

Macquarie Airports rose 3.0% to A$2.75 said that a group of senior aviation executives under the name Global Airports announced a proposal to take over the management of Macquarie Airports.

Rio Tinto Limited decreased 0.5% to A$60.36 after the mining company said that it has entered into an agreement to sell Alcan Composites part of the Alcan Engineered Products division to Schweiter Technologies AG for a total consideration of $349 million. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year.

St Barbara Limited the gold producer advanced 1.7% to A$0.29.

Telstra fell 2 cents to A$3.28 and select shareholders are agitating to pursue legal avenue and remind board of directors that they have a fiduciary duty to oppose the ‘draconian’ measures proposed by the Australian government to separate its wholesale and retail business.
At a meeting of eight largest shareholders in Sydney that included Investors Mutual, BT, Lazard, Maple Brown Abbott, 452 Capital investors debated the merits of legal challenge to the government proposal according to the Australian.

Asian Markets Review

Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 228.29 or 1.06% to 21,701.14 and CSI 300 index in China closed lower 77.58 or 2.42% to 3,131.03. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 13.70 or 0.29% to 4,663.70. The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo and The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia were closed today.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 23.38 or 1.38% to close at 1,718.88. SET index in Thailand closed higher 11.21 or 1.57% to 724.37. The Sensex index in India increased 145.13 or 0.87% to 16,886.43. JSE Index in Indonesia was closed today.