Aussie shares recover losses
November 30, 2009
Australian shares opened higher Monday and continued to rally throughout the day finishing within eight points of Thursday’s close. Banks surged as investor’s realised they may have overplayed the fears of the effect of the Dubai debt moratorium on the Aussie banking sector.
Looking ahead all eyes now turn to the RBA and its interest rate decision due out tomorrow. Analysts’ consensus estimate a 0.25% interest rate increase, particularly following the release of a TD Securities/Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge which showed that prices rose by 0.3% in November, making for an annual rate of 2.1%.
At the end of the day, the All Ords added 118.3 to 4,715.5, while the ASX/200 gained 129.2 to 4,701.3. About 2.1 billion shares worth around $5.1 billion had changed hands.
The Banks and Financials sector spiked 4.2%.
NAB shares built on morning momentum, closing out the day up $1.61, or 6% to $28.62.
CBA gained $2.20, or 4.3% to $52.80 as the company revealed it has exposure to Dubai World. However, CBA said it does not expect to incur a material loss as a result.
ANZ and Westpac added 4.5% and 4.4% respectively, while Macquarie Group climbed $2.66, or 5.9% to $48.00.
IAG, Suncorp-Metway and AMP were up between 3.9% and 4.4% at $3.92, $8.78 and $6.18 respectively.
All of the larger capped Property Trusts were higher, sending the sector up 2.8% overall. Westfield and Stockland added 33c and 13c to $12.21 and $4.04 respectively.
Goodman Group put on 1.5c to 60c after the company said it was in line to achieve its previous FY10 profit forecast of $310 million.
The Materials and Resources sector gained 2.3% on the positive market sentiment more than the mixed prices for base metals in London on Friday.
BHP Billiton added just over 11 points to the index to be trading at $41.30, while Rio Tinto gained 4.5% to $71.66.
Fortescue put on 5% to $4.21 as Citigroup upgraded its rating and target price on Australia’s third largest iron ore producer.
OZ Minerals added 4c, or 3.4% to $1.22 after announcing plans to form of joint venture with IMX Resources to explore and develop copper-gold projects in South Australia. IMX shares climbed 10.6% to 36.5c.
Gold stocks lagged. The price of the precious metal fell as a result of a strengthening greenback and falling equities. Newcrest dipped 14c to $36.79.
Australia is now the world’s second largest gold producer following falling production in the US and South Africa.
Energy stocks advanced despite the price of crude trading more than 2.5% lower on Friday. The sector rallied 2% overall.
Woodside gained 65c to $48.75, while Origin rose 2.1% to $15.61.
Aquila surged another 11.9% to $10.93. This morning the iron ore and coal explorer announced it would be issuing bonus shares to shareholders for free, while in the afternoon the company said its iron ore reserves estimates at its West Pilbara joint venture had more than doubled to over 150 million tonnes.
Less than a month ago the company’s shares were trading at $7.15.
Leighton was the major mover among the Industrials as concerns of its exposure to Dubai subsided. The company’s shares were 2.7% higher at $35.70.
Transfield added 8c to $3.93 as UBS upgraded its rating on the stock to “Neutral”.
Qantas gained 7c, or 2.8% to $2.60. Rival Virgin Blue added 1.5c, or 2.9% to 53c despite reporting that the 1.59 million passengers which flew with the airline in October was down 2% from last October.
The sector added 1.8%.
Wesfarmers traded above the $30.00 per share level for the first time since September 2008, though finished up 97c, or 3.4% at $29.78.
Meanwhile, Woolworths put on 16c to $28.05, helping the Consumer Staples sector up 2%.
Metcash rose 12c to $4.63. On Friday the company announced its plans to enter the hardware industry by bidding for Mitre 10. Metcash featured heavily in broker reports this morning.
A relatively mixed day in comparison to other sectors resulted in the Consumer Discretionary sector advancing a modest 1.6%.
The major improvers included Billabong and Flight Centre, which were 4% above the line. Aristocrat rose 10c, or 2.5% to $4.03.
On the other side of the ledger Newscorp lost 0.3% to $15.12. The media company’s shares weakened 3.9% on Wall Street Friday.
Fairfax surged 5.5c, or 3.5% to $1.635.
Telstra edged 2c higher to $3.41 as it unveiled plans aimed at growing the business and improving customer service. The Telecommunications sector added 0.8%.
Representing the Healthcare sector, CSL rose 54c, or 1.7% to $31.54. The sector climbed 1.5%.
Around the region, the Nikkei 225 rose 225.4 to 9,306.9, while the Straits Times Index shed 23.9 to 2,738.3. Meanwhile, the NZSE50 put on 31.1 to 3,125.5. The Hang Seng rallied 696.1 to 21,830.6
Spot gold was trading at US$1165.35 per ounce, and the Aussie was buying US$0.9151.
At the bell, Leighton shares were up 93c to $35.70, while ConnectEast shares were up 2c to 42c.
Goodman Group aims for $310m profit in FY10
Goodman Group at its Annual General Meeting this morning said that the group was in line to achieve its previous forecast profit of $310 million for the 2010 financial year. The company said that it was expecting its last writedowns to come in the December half, estimated at around 5% of total assets.
At the end of the day, GMG shares were up 1.5c to 60c.
Aquila upgrades iron ore estimates
Aquila Resources Limited (AQA) shares surged more than 10% Monday as the company announced the JORC resource estimate at its joint venture West Pilbara Iron Ore Project had increased to 156 million tonnes from a mid-2007 estimate of 62.9Mt. Shares also drew strength from the company's declaration that it planned to issue bonus shares to its shareholders.
At the finish, Aquila shares were up $1.16c to $10.93.
Telstra seeks improved customer service
Telstra CEO David Thodey, six months into the job following the resignation of Sol Trujillo, today announced a raft of changes aimed at growing the telco in key markets and improving customer service. Mr Thodey said it was a part of fresh strategy for Telstra, some of which had been announced in recent weeks.
At the close, Telstra shares had risen 2c to $3.41.
OZ Minerals and IMX to form JV
OZ Minerals and IMX Resources have signed an agreement with the intention of forming a joint venture that would see them explore for and develop copper-gold projects on IMX’s Mt Woods tenements in South Australia. As part of the deal the two companies said OZ Minerals would purchase 26.15 million IMX shares at 38.5c each, taking a 13% stake in the junior miner.
At the bell, OZ Minerals shares were up 4c to $1.22, while IMX shares were trading up 3.5c to 36.5c.
Looking ahead all eyes now turn to the RBA and its interest rate decision due out tomorrow. Analysts’ consensus estimate a 0.25% interest rate increase, particularly following the release of a TD Securities/Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge which showed that prices rose by 0.3% in November, making for an annual rate of 2.1%.
At the end of the day, the All Ords added 118.3 to 4,715.5, while the ASX/200 gained 129.2 to 4,701.3. About 2.1 billion shares worth around $5.1 billion had changed hands.
The Banks and Financials sector spiked 4.2%.
NAB shares built on morning momentum, closing out the day up $1.61, or 6% to $28.62.
CBA gained $2.20, or 4.3% to $52.80 as the company revealed it has exposure to Dubai World. However, CBA said it does not expect to incur a material loss as a result.
ANZ and Westpac added 4.5% and 4.4% respectively, while Macquarie Group climbed $2.66, or 5.9% to $48.00.
IAG, Suncorp-Metway and AMP were up between 3.9% and 4.4% at $3.92, $8.78 and $6.18 respectively.
All of the larger capped Property Trusts were higher, sending the sector up 2.8% overall. Westfield and Stockland added 33c and 13c to $12.21 and $4.04 respectively.
Goodman Group put on 1.5c to 60c after the company said it was in line to achieve its previous FY10 profit forecast of $310 million.
The Materials and Resources sector gained 2.3% on the positive market sentiment more than the mixed prices for base metals in London on Friday.
BHP Billiton added just over 11 points to the index to be trading at $41.30, while Rio Tinto gained 4.5% to $71.66.
Fortescue put on 5% to $4.21 as Citigroup upgraded its rating and target price on Australia’s third largest iron ore producer.
OZ Minerals added 4c, or 3.4% to $1.22 after announcing plans to form of joint venture with IMX Resources to explore and develop copper-gold projects in South Australia. IMX shares climbed 10.6% to 36.5c.
Gold stocks lagged. The price of the precious metal fell as a result of a strengthening greenback and falling equities. Newcrest dipped 14c to $36.79.
Australia is now the world’s second largest gold producer following falling production in the US and South Africa.
Energy stocks advanced despite the price of crude trading more than 2.5% lower on Friday. The sector rallied 2% overall.
Woodside gained 65c to $48.75, while Origin rose 2.1% to $15.61.
Aquila surged another 11.9% to $10.93. This morning the iron ore and coal explorer announced it would be issuing bonus shares to shareholders for free, while in the afternoon the company said its iron ore reserves estimates at its West Pilbara joint venture had more than doubled to over 150 million tonnes.
Less than a month ago the company’s shares were trading at $7.15.
Leighton was the major mover among the Industrials as concerns of its exposure to Dubai subsided. The company’s shares were 2.7% higher at $35.70.
Transfield added 8c to $3.93 as UBS upgraded its rating on the stock to “Neutral”.
Qantas gained 7c, or 2.8% to $2.60. Rival Virgin Blue added 1.5c, or 2.9% to 53c despite reporting that the 1.59 million passengers which flew with the airline in October was down 2% from last October.
The sector added 1.8%.
Wesfarmers traded above the $30.00 per share level for the first time since September 2008, though finished up 97c, or 3.4% at $29.78.
Meanwhile, Woolworths put on 16c to $28.05, helping the Consumer Staples sector up 2%.
Metcash rose 12c to $4.63. On Friday the company announced its plans to enter the hardware industry by bidding for Mitre 10. Metcash featured heavily in broker reports this morning.
A relatively mixed day in comparison to other sectors resulted in the Consumer Discretionary sector advancing a modest 1.6%.
The major improvers included Billabong and Flight Centre, which were 4% above the line. Aristocrat rose 10c, or 2.5% to $4.03.
On the other side of the ledger Newscorp lost 0.3% to $15.12. The media company’s shares weakened 3.9% on Wall Street Friday.
Fairfax surged 5.5c, or 3.5% to $1.635.
Telstra edged 2c higher to $3.41 as it unveiled plans aimed at growing the business and improving customer service. The Telecommunications sector added 0.8%.
Representing the Healthcare sector, CSL rose 54c, or 1.7% to $31.54. The sector climbed 1.5%.
Around the region, the Nikkei 225 rose 225.4 to 9,306.9, while the Straits Times Index shed 23.9 to 2,738.3. Meanwhile, the NZSE50 put on 31.1 to 3,125.5. The Hang Seng rallied 696.1 to 21,830.6
Spot gold was trading at US$1165.35 per ounce, and the Aussie was buying US$0.9151.
Leighton and ConnectEast reach agreement
At the bell, Leighton shares were up 93c to $35.70, while ConnectEast shares were up 2c to 42c.
Goodman Group aims for $310m profit in FY10
Goodman Group at its Annual General Meeting this morning said that the group was in line to achieve its previous forecast profit of $310 million for the 2010 financial year. The company said that it was expecting its last writedowns to come in the December half, estimated at around 5% of total assets.
At the end of the day, GMG shares were up 1.5c to 60c.
Aquila upgrades iron ore estimates
Aquila Resources Limited (AQA) shares surged more than 10% Monday as the company announced the JORC resource estimate at its joint venture West Pilbara Iron Ore Project had increased to 156 million tonnes from a mid-2007 estimate of 62.9Mt. Shares also drew strength from the company's declaration that it planned to issue bonus shares to its shareholders.
At the finish, Aquila shares were up $1.16c to $10.93.
Telstra seeks improved customer service
Telstra CEO David Thodey, six months into the job following the resignation of Sol Trujillo, today announced a raft of changes aimed at growing the telco in key markets and improving customer service. Mr Thodey said it was a part of fresh strategy for Telstra, some of which had been announced in recent weeks.
At the close, Telstra shares had risen 2c to $3.41.
OZ Minerals and IMX to form JV
OZ Minerals and IMX Resources have signed an agreement with the intention of forming a joint venture that would see them explore for and develop copper-gold projects on IMX’s Mt Woods tenements in South Australia. As part of the deal the two companies said OZ Minerals would purchase 26.15 million IMX shares at 38.5c each, taking a 13% stake in the junior miner.
At the bell, OZ Minerals shares were up 4c to $1.22, while IMX shares were trading up 3.5c to 36.5c.
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