Australian Index Up 1.5%; Murchison Surges 6%

Mayank Mehta
22 Dec, 2009
New York City

Stocks in Australia edged higher after world markets edged up. Commodities prices edged lower. BHP Billiton after the close agreed to sell its nickel mining holdings to its joint venture partner in Philippines. GrainCorp Ltd declined after the company said profits are likely to be lower than estimated. Gold stocks fell on a rebound in the U.S. dollar.

[R]8:00 AM Sydney, Australia – Stocks in Australia edged higher after world markets edged up. Commodities prices edged lower. BHP Billiton after the close agreed to sell its nickel mining holdings to its joint venture partner in Philippines. GrainCorp Ltd declined after the company said profits are likely to be lower than estimated. Gold stocks fell on a rebound in the U.S. dollar.[/R]

The ASX 200 index in Australia increased 69.10 or 1.49% to 4,704.20, of the stocks in the index, 153 increased, 34 declined and 13 were unchanged.

ASX Movers

GrainCorp Limited led the decliners in the S&P ASX 200 index with a loss of 7.4% followed by losses in PaperlinX Limited of 4.6%, in Pacific Brands Limited of 3.0%, in AWB Limited 2.7% and in Crane Group Limited 2.6%.

Minara Resources Limited led gainers in the S&P ASX 200 index with a rise of 10.2% followed by gains in Aquila Resources Limited 6.3%, in Eastern Star Gas Limited of 6.0% and in Caltex Australia Limited of 5.8%.

Other Movers

Alumina Limited the producer of the material used to make aluminum climbed 3.5% to A$1.77.

BHP Billiton plc added 1.7% to A$41.65 after the mining company said has no plans to exit its nickel business, countering a media report that it could be considering selling mines in Australia and Colombia. According to Dow Jones reported.

After the close, BHP said agreed to sell its 40% stake in the nickel mining venture in Philippines to partner Asiaticus Management Corp. BHP recently sold its nickel refinery and Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Australia.

Eastern Star Gas Limited increased 6.0% to A$0.79 after the developer of gas reserves said a production test at its Narrabri project was a success.

GrainCorp Limited dropped 7.4% to A$5.38 after the grain handler expects fiscal 2010 EBITDA to be between A$180-A$210 million.

Lihir Gold Limited declined 0.9% to A$3.15 after gold fell in international markets.

Macquarie Group Limited rose 1.9% to A$46.71 after the investment bank is near an agreement to take over the derivative business of collapsed Luxembourg-based private bank Sal. Oppenheim.

Minara Resources Limited the nickel producer surged 10.2% to A$0.81 after Russia imposed 5% duty on nickel exports.

Murchison Metals Limited gained 5.6% to A$2.26 after the iron ore producer said a significant resource increase at the Jack Hills Project in which it holds a 50% interest through Crosslands Resources Ltd.

The new estimate of 3 billion tons consist of 2.86 billion tons at 30.6% iron, direct ship material of 110 million tons at 56.9% iron ore and near direct ship material of 39 million at 45% iron.

Newcrest Mining Limited decreased 2.0% to A$34.06 after the gold producer said it shut down production at its Telfer gold mine due to heavy rain and gale-force winds caused by Tropical Cyclone Laurence, and plans to resume production at the mine on Wednesday.

Rio Tinto Limited the mining company advanced 3.0% to A$72.75.