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ASX Afternoon Market Wrap – 11th March 2010 – Share Market Closes in the Red.
11-Mar: Australian stocks ended the day slightly in the red, pulled down after China's consumer inflation spike stoked fears its government would move soon to further curb bank lending.
At close of trade the ASX 200 fell 5.8 points to 4814.2 and the All Ordinaries was down 4.3 points to 4825.5.
At the close most sectors were posting losses with the gold sector posting the highest losses.
A benign labour force report for February will probably be sufficient for the Reserve Bank of Australia to leave the official cash rate unchanged next month, economists say. The jobless rate edged up to 5.3% in February from a downwardly revised 5.2% in January, with the number of people employed barely rising. This was the first rise in the jobless rate since peaking at 5.8% last October. Just 400 jobs, seasonally adjusted, were added to the workforce in February, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed today.
In company news, Tiger Airways Holdings Limited has reported strong growth in passenger numbers and an improvement in load factors for February. Tiger carried 437,000 passengers in February this year, up about 90% from the 230,000 it carried the same month 12 months ago. Load factors, which measure the number of passengers as a percentage of total seats available, rose to 85% in February from 79% the same month a year ago.
iiNet Limited shares have gone into a trading halt as Australia's third biggest internet service provider prepares a response to a newspaper report saying the company is to buy a rival. The shares will remain in a trading halt until March 15, or when the company makes an announcement, Perth-based iiNet said in a statement today. iiNet is likely to announce within the next two or three weeks that it has agreed to buy rival internet provider Netspace for between $60 million and $75 million.
Lend Lease Group posted today’s greatest gains up 32 cents or 3.83% to $8.67.
Alumina Limited posted today’s greatest losses down 4 and a half cents or 2.67% to $1.64.
At 1617 AEDT the 12 GICS indices were:-
Discretion 1,645.2 up 2.5
Consumer Staples 7,862.3 up 19.2
Energy 15,415.6 down 42.0
Financials 4,790.3 down 14.7
Fin-x-property 5,621.5 down 16.2
Gold 5,573.5 down 65.8
Healthcare 8,879.1 up 57.0
Industrials 3,961.7 down 23.6
Info Technology 708.8 down 14.1
Materials 12,553.7 down 30.7
Metals and Mining 4,479.3 down 18.1
Resources 5,312.4 down 19.4
Telecommunications 1,051.4 up 24.4
Utilities 4,383.0 up 17.6
Individual stock performances
BHP Billiton was at $42.95 down 29 cents. Rio Tinto was at $75.41 up 6 cents.
Banks
Westpac was at $26.97 down 36 cents. NAB was at $26.69 down 11 cents. ANZ was at $24.01 up 7 cents. Commonwealth Bank was at $55.79 up 10 cents.
Media
News Corp was at $18.27 down 3 cents. The Seven Network was at $7.91 down 8 cents. John Fairfax was at $1.75 up 1 cent.
Retail
Woolworths was at $28.39 up 19 cents. Harvey Norman was at $3.94 up 2 cents. David Jones was at $5.09 up 2 cents.
Toll Holdings was at $7.14 up 5 cents. Qantas was at $2.82 down 2 cents.
Food
Coca Cola was at $11.24 up 7 cents. Goodman Fielder was at $1.48 down half a cent.
Insurance
AMP was at $6.14 down 2 cents. QBE was at $21.01 down 4 cents. IAG was at $3.95 down 5 cents.
Gold
Gold gained for the first time in four days after the metal’s drop by the most in five weeks spurred purchases.
At the close gold was trading at $US1,108.00 an ounce, down US10 cents.
Oil
Crude oil fell for the second time in three days as the dollar strengthened and on concern recent price gains outpaced demand growth in the US, the world’s largest energy consumer.
At the close US light crude was trading at $US81.53 a barrel, down US56 cents.
Dollar
The Australian dollar was weaker today after mixed employment figures suggested the Reserve Bank of Australia might hold interest rates steady in April.
At 1600 AEDT the Australia dollar was:
AUD/USD .9145
AUD/EUR .6701
AUD/GBP .6103
AUD/JPY 82.649
AUD/NZD 1.307
ASX Midday Market Wrap – 11th March 2010 – Choppy Session for Share Market.
The Australian share market opened higher shrugging off a mixed lead from offshore markets where Wall Street and oil prices ended firmer but precious and base metals prices weakened.
At 1200 AEST the ASX 200 was down 2.4 points to 4817.6 and the All Ordinaries rose 0.2 points to 4830.0.
At midday most sectors posted gains with the gold sector posting the highest losses.
In company news, Galaxy Resources Limited announced a new ore reserve statement for the Mt Cattlin Spodumene Project near Ravensthorpe, Western Australia. The total “Proved” and “Probable” estimate has increased to 11.4 million tonnes @ 1.05% Li2O which represents a 23% increase from the previous reserve estimation in September 2009 (9.3 million tonnes at 1.04% Li2O). Reserve estimation has incorporated data from resource definition drilling, geological modelling/resource estimation, detailed surface topography surveys, metallurgical test work, process/plant design, capital/processing cost estimation and mine planning.
St Barbara Limited announced the King of the Hills gold project near Leonora (formerly referred to as the Tarmoola higher grade, underground project) has been approved for development. Gold production is planned at the rate of 65,000 ounces per annum over 3.5 years following a 12 month ramp up period, and is expected to commence in the June quarter of 2011. Pre-production capital expenditure to first gold production is expected in the range of $12.5-$14 million and will be fully funded from available internal cash resources.
China Yunnan Copper Australia Limited announced further encouraging results from its drilling program at the Gem Copper Gold Prospect in the Cloncurry district. In summary previous best results are 38 metres @ 1.25% copper and 0.20 g/t gold from 33 metres, 8 metres @ 0.89% copper and 0.25g/t gold from 183 metres and 6 metres @ 1.57% copper and 0.19g/t gold from 53 metres. The prospect drilling program is approximately half complete (1,134 metres out of 2,600 metres planned) with the undrilled central portion of the prospect to recommence later this week.
Incitec Pivot Limited posted today’s greatest gains up 11 cents or 3.13% to $3.62.
James Hardie Industries SE posted today’s greatest losses down 20 cents or 2.63% to $7.40.
At 1200AEST the 12 GICS indices were:-
Discretion 1,644.1 up 1.4
Consumer Staples 7,873.6 up 30.5
Energy 15,480.0 up 22.4
Financials 4,801.5 down 3.5
Fin-x-property 5,633.8 down 3.9
Gold 5,591.8 down 47.5
Healthcare 8,876.6 up 54.5
Industrials 3,978.2 down 7.1
Info Technology 706.6 down 16.3
Materials 12,585.1 up 0.7
Metals and Mining 4,494.8 down 2.6
Resources 5,331.4 down 0.4
Telecommunications 1,048.5 up 21.5
Utilities 4,376.2 up 10.8
Individual stock performances
BHP Billiton was at $42.12 down 12 cents. Rio Tinto was at $75.80 up 45 cents.
Banks
Westpac at $26.94 down 39 cents. NAB at $26.79 down 1 cent. ANZ at $24.07 up 13 cents. Commonwealth Bank was at $55.86 up 17 cents.
Media
News Corp at $18.24 down 6 cents. The Seven Network at $7.89 down 10 cents. John Fairfax at $1.75 down 1 and a half cents.
Retail
Woolworths at $28.31 up 11 cents. Harvey Norman at $3.94 up 2 cents. David Jones was at $5.05 down 2 cents.
Toll Holdings at $7.12 up 3 cents. Qantas at $2.82 down 2 cents.
Gold
Gold is currently trading at $US1,108.40 an ounce, up US30 cents.
Oil
Light sweet crude oil is currently trading at $US81.74 a barrel, down US35 cents.
Dollar
The Australian dollar opened flat today ahead of key domestic employment data.
At 1200 AEST the Australian dollar was:
AUD/USD .9139
AUD/EUR .6699
AUD/GBP .6108
AUD/JPY 82.709
AUD/NZD 1.305
US Stock Market Report – 11th March 2010 – Nasdaq Reaches Highest Level in More Than 18 Months.
Stocks in the US posted modest gains on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq ending at its highest level in more than 18 months, as investors weighed falling oil prices against strength in the financial services sector and an upbeat report on wholesale inventories.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.95 points, or 0.03% to 10,567.33 and the Nasdaq composite was up 18.27, or 0.78% to 2,358.95.
US bank stocks advanced on upbeat analyst comments and bullish statements from some executives. Citibank rose 3.6% after the company priced a $US2 billion offering of trust-preferred securities. Bank of America gained nearly 2%.
American International Group soared over 8% as investors cheered the insurance giant's recent asset sales. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also gained significant ground.
US technology stocks also posted strong gains. The Sox, an index of semiconductor shares, was up 2%.
However, US traders said volumes have been declining this week as many market participants move to the sidelines amid a lack of market-moving economic reports.
Shares of US energy producers weakened as oil prices gave up earlier gains. Oil briefly traded above $US83 a barrel after the government reported a smaller-than-expected increase in oil supplies and a dip in gasoline inventory. Gold prices also fell.
US stocks managed slight gains Tuesday, which was the one-year anniversary of what many consider to be the bottom of the bear market.
In economic news, the US Commerce Department said wholesale inventories fell 0.2% in January, after a 1% drop the month before, raising expectations that consumer demand is strengthening.
Separately, the Labor Department said fewer states reported increases in unemployment in January.
The Treasury Department said the government suffered a record $US220.9 billion budget deficit in February, after a shortfall of $US42.6 billion in January. It was the 17th consecutive monthly deficit and was larger than the $US221 billion shortfall economists had forecast.
In company enws, shares of Facet Biotech surged 66% after Abbott Labs announced plans to acquire the company for $US27 a share. Abbott gained about 0.7%.
Airline stocks rallied on growing expectations that 2010 is shaping into a profitable year for the industry. Shares of UAL, holding company for United Airlines, and Continental Airlines surged 5%.
In commodities, COMEX gold for May delivery fell $US14.20 to $US1,108.10 an ounce.
US light crude oil for April delivery rose US60 cents to settle at $US82.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In currency trading, the US dollar was down versus the euro and up versus the yen.
One Australian dollar currently buys:
AUD/USD .9148
AUD/EUR .6701
AUD/GBP .6110
AUD/JPY 82.805
AUD/NZD 1.303
In overseas trade Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.68%, Germany’s DAX was up 0.86% and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.86%.
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Market News (Search) [ADY] $2 million placement of shares
11-Mar-2010
[MAU] New uranium anomalies at Lake Harvey
11-Mar-2010
[TAM] Tanami Gold reports high-grade results from Sandpiper
11-Mar-2010
[LEI] Leighton Asia secures $463 million express rail link contract in Hong Kong
11-Mar-2010
[CYU] Gem Copper Gold Prospect – interim results indicate shallow mineralisation continuity
11-Mar-2010
[BPT] Beach & General Atomics to evaluate potential for bio oils & fuels production
11-Mar-2010
[SBM] King of the Hills Gold Project to commence production in Q2 2011
11-Mar-2010
[MSL] Acquisition of freehold site in Karratha, Western Australia
11-Mar-2010
[ROG] Red Sky Energy to access methane enhancement technology
11-Mar-2010
[GXY] Galaxy increases ore reserve by 23%
11-Mar-2010
[CZA] Coal receives approval to take bulk sample from Makhado Project
11-Mar-2010
[IRD] Gawler Iron Project drilling program approval and commencement
11-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Oil
11-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Gold
11-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Dollar
11-Mar-2010
[SEK] SEEK Limited increases its stake in JobStreet to 21%
10-Mar-2010
[AKK] Oil present in Austin’s first well at Armstrong Project
10-Mar-2010
[GWR] Upgrade on Wiluna West Gold Resource
10-Mar-2010
[EQN] Equinox achieves financial close for new US$400 million corporate loan
10-Mar-2010
[HUN] Additional thermal coal project to be acquired in Mongolia
10-Mar-2010
[CAH] Further encouraging drill results as Catalpa enters ASX 200 Index
10-Mar-2010
[NSE] New Standard Energy seeks to open Australian shale gas province
10-Mar-2010
[SBN] Sun Biomedical announces Share Purchase Plan
10-Mar-2010
[LBY] Liberty commences drilling in the Surat Basin
10-Mar-2010
[SAU] Gold mineralisation in first assay from Southern Gold’s 2010 drill campaign in Cambodia
10-Mar-2010
[KRB] further high grade copper at Pilgrim in NW Queensland
10-Mar-2010
[MAU] 188km of iron ore targets identified
10-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Oil
10-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Gold
10-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Dollar
10-Mar-2010
[PDY] Drilling to commence at Telecom Hill
9-Mar-2010
[ABU] ABM releases details on Northern Tanami Targets Hyperion Gold Project
9-Mar-2010
[ENT] $2.8 million capital raising completed
9-Mar-2010
[QPN] Update on Kreyenhagen oil project
9-Mar-2010
[TAP] Woollybull oil field recommences production
9-Mar-2010
[CAG] Commencement of drilling at the Kadoma Gold Project
9-Mar-2010
[AZM] More high-grade drill results at Julie and Collette
9-Mar-2010
[TXN] 40% production increase to 535 boepd
9-Mar-2010
[EAU] Eastern Dragon resource and reserve update
9-Mar-2010
[NMG] Noble unveils two million ounce resource for Bibiani
9-Mar-2010
[ABZ] Eight new bauxite exploration tenements in Tasmania
9-Mar-2010
[GXY] Airborne survey at West Kundip Manganese Project
9-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Oil
9-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Gold
9-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Dollar
9-Mar-2010
[IGO] Duketon Nickel JV Rosie Prospect
8-Mar-2010
[BOW] Bow increases 3P certified gas reserves by 60%
8-Mar-2010
[ORE] Orocobre Limited announces high grade lithium and potassium brine discoveries
8-Mar-2010
[IGR] New gold discovery at Majestic
8-Mar-2010
[CQR] Charter Hall Retail REIT acquires two Australian retail assets for $69.8 million
8-Mar-2010
[JPR] J-50 well confirms presence of hydrocarbons in Jurassic-XI formation
8-Mar-2010
[NSP] SpermSep European patent granted
8-Mar-2010
[WSA] New nickel sulphides discovery at Sandstone Joint Venture
8-Mar-2010
[CXN] CXN confirms $4 million of new and extended contracts
8-Mar-2010
[SLR] Shallow, thick, high grade discovery in the Murchison
8-Mar-2010
[NIP] NiPlats quadruples resource at Australia’s largest vanadium deposit
5-Mar-2010
[MTB] High metal recoveries at NXUU Deposit
5-Mar-2010
[SSN] Samson Oil & Gas to re-complete the State GC#2
5-Mar-2010
[RNG] Mt Morgans operation opened
5-Mar-2010
[LGL] LGL enters Ballarat sale agreement
5-Mar-2010
[NZO] Drilling to start at Hoki
5-Mar-2010
[GXY] Galaxy commences mining at Mt Cattlin ahead of schedule
5-Mar-2010
[GGE] Golden Gate Petroleum farms in to Napoleonville Project
5-Mar-2010
[ETH] Further high grade base metals intercepts at the Mary Spring Prospect
5-Mar-2010
[BKW] Brickworks diversifies building products offering through precast concrete panels acquisition
5-Mar-2010
[OGC] OceanGold closes subscription receipt financing
5-Mar-2010
[AAM] A1 joins ranks of gold producers with first pour at BrightStar Project
5-Mar-2010
[PDZ] Geochemical survey results
5-Mar-2010
[NBS] Nexbis completes capital raising and announces strategic investments
5-Mar-2010
[CBH] High grade drill results at Rasp Mine
5-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Oil
5-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Gold
5-Mar-2010
Morning Market Mood – Dollar
5-Mar-2010
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