Australian Stocks Track Weak Commodities

Darlington Musarurwa
07 Dec, 2009
New York City

Australian job ads jumped 5.2% in November but still 34% lower from a year ago. New Zealand home prices rise 1% in November. The Australian dollar edged lower but closed at 91.25 U.S. cents. Weak commodities prices dragged stocks lower. BHP and Rio Tinto agree on iro ore production venture.

[R]3:00 AM New York, 7:00 PM Sydney - Australian job ads increased 5.2% in November but still 34% lower from a year ago. New Zealand home prices rise 1% in November. The Australian dollar edged lower but closed at 91.25 U.S. cents. Weak metals and commodities prices dragged stocks lower.[/R]

Australian stocks fell 0.6% weighed by falling commodity stocks as gold prices decreased 4.2% to $1,169 per ounce and crude oil prices fell 0.5% to $76.1 per barrel.

In Sydney trading ASX 200 Index dropped 0.6% or 25.7 to 4,676.50.

Of the ASX 200 index stocks, 67 rose, 115 dropped, and 18 were unchanged. Billabong International led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 4.9% followed by Perpetual Ltd. rising 4.4%.

The Australian dollar fell 0.2% to 91.25 U.S. cents.

Australian Job Ads Rise 5.2%

The ANZ Job Advertisements Series indicated today the total number of jobs advertised in major metropolitan newspapers and on the internet gained 5.2% to 140,658 per week after falling 1.7% in October.

Job ads were, however, 34.2% lower than the same period a year earlier.

According to the report, job advertisements in major metropolitan newspapers jumped 8.3% to 9,530 per week from 1.4% the previous month, but the jobs dropped 18.7% than a year ago.

Job ads increased in Western Australia 18.4%, in Victoria 14%, in the Northern Territories 10.5%, in the Australian Capital Territory 10.3%, in South Australia 7.2%, in New South Wales 6% and in Tasmania 0.8%.

The ads in Qeensland declined 4.4%.

Internet job advertisements advanced 5% to 131,128 per week, but fell 35.1% from the comparable year ago period.

ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan said, “The recent strength in job strength in job advertising is consistent with the positive trends seen in many other indicators across the Australian economy. Taken together, these data imply that Australia’s recovery from the recent downturn is gathering pace.”

Origin Energy Targeted Otway Stake Reduced

Origin Energy reported today that its share of the purchase price of Woodside Energy’s Otway Gas project, in which it sought 51.55% equity, has been reduced to A$507.2 million from A$712.5 million.

The transaction was subject to pre-emptive rights held by the other joint venture parties.

Benaris International Pvt Ltd. has advised that it will exercise its rights, while CalEnergy Australia has elected not to exercise any of its rights.

Completion of the Otway Gas Project is expected by the end of the year.

New Zealand Home Prices Rise 1% in November

Quotable Value New Zealand reported today the country’s home prices gained 1% in November from a year earlier.

Valuation manager at Quotable Value noted that spring increases in property offerings did not occur and new listings advanced.

Prices in New Zealand’s 16 largest cities gained 2.5% from a year ago, as prices in Auckland soared 3.1% and Wellington 2.9%.

Gainers & Losers

Billabong International led gainers in the ASX 200 index stocks with a rise of 4.9% followed by increases in Perpetual Ltd. of 4.4%, in Flight Centre of 4.1%, in News Corp-CDI of 3.8% and Wotif.com Holdings of 3.3%.

Avoca Resources led decliners in the ASX 200 index stocks with a fall of 6.6% followed by losses in Lynas Corp.of 6.1%. in Newscrest Mining of 6%, in Independence Group of 5.9%, in Mont Gibson Iron of 5.3%.

Medusa Mining slumped 4.9% to A$3.92. Lihir Gold plunged 4.8% to A$3.32 and Molopo Energy tumbled 4.6% to A$1.36.

Other Movers

Avoca Resources Limited the mining and exploration company fell 6.6% to A$1.97.

Billabong International Limited added 4.8% to A$11.03 after the surfwear maker said shares climb after US jobless rate drops.

BHP Billiton plc decreased 1.9% to A$40.61 after the mining company and Rio Tinto plc signed an agreement of core principles to establish a production joint venture covering the entirety of both companies'' Western Australian iron ore assets.

Flight Centre Limited the travel agency group advanced 4.0% to A$17.40.

Lynas Corporation Limited dropped 6.0% to A$0.54 after the construction of a concentration plant said that Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc is interested in 65,693,984 shares representing 5.18% of voting shares.

Newcrest Mining Limited the gold producer fell 6.0% to A$36.00 after the precious metal prices declined.

Perpetual Limited the provider of wealth management and corporate trust services rose 4.4% to A$36.18.

Rio Tinto Limited declined 0.3% to A$71.59 after the metal and mineral production said BHP Billiton they expect to unify their iron ore operations in Western Australia by the second half of next year, after signing a binding agreement to combine mining and infrastructure into a joint venture.

St Barbara Limited the gold miner dropped 4.2% to A$0.34.