Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon 7/26/2012

AFTERNOON REPORT
(4.45pm AEST)

The local share market closed higher today, boosted by company news and a lift in energy and banking stocks. By close, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was up 22.4pts or 0.5pct to 4173.8.

Financial stocks were well supported, with the sector up 0.6pct. Shares in Westpac (WBC) gained 0.7pct to close at $22.61 while Macquarie Group (MQG) rose 2.2pct to finish at $24.40.

Oil refiner Caltex (CTX) today announced plans to close its Kurnell plant in Sydney in the second half of 2014 as part of a supply chain restructure. CTX shares finished higher by 1.4pct to $14.26, and have been well supported over the past year. There are media reports the closure of the refinery could result in up to 600 jobs losses, however CTX says the number is more like 330 - and a lot of those are expected to be natural attrition, people leaving the workforce or accepting voluntary redundancies.

Elsewhere Qantas (QAN) shares soared, up 9.6pct to $1.085. The airline confirmed this afternoon it's been in discussions with a number of carriers, including Emirates, about potential alliances. Newspaper reports today hinted that Qantas would soon fly into Dubai, allowing it to tack onto numerous routes through Emirates across Europe and Africa. Rival Virgin Australia (VAH) today added 2.6pct $0.40.

Elsewhere, uranium producer Energy Resources of Australia Limited (ERA), posted an underlying loss of $52 million in the first half of 2012. Today's registered loss was down from the $22 million loss the firm posted in the first half of 2011.
The market was already aware of the expected loss today and ERA management expects demand for uranium to continue. Management also expects China will still be the largest consumer of uranium over the next decade. ERA shares closed down 0.3pct to $1.47.

Good luck to anyone in on Sirius Resources (SIR). Shares in the company today rose a whopping 690pct to $0.45 following a major nickel-copper discovery.

In economic news today, more signs the Australian housing industry remains weak. The Housing Industry Association today released its latest report, showing an oversupply of skilled builders and sub-contractors. Meanwhile a fall in the number of new homes sold in the US in the month of June contributed to a mixed night on offshore markets.

The Australian dollar finished the day's session higher across the board. At 4.30pm AEST it was buying US103.36c, €85.10 and £0.6681.

On the market overall, a total of 1.37 billion shares were traded, worth $3.89 billion. 458 were up, 412 were down and 341 were unchanged.

At 4.30pm AEST the SFE 200 Futures market was at 4102, up 20pts.

In the US tonight, pending home sales and durable goods orders are released.

[Kick off your trading day with our newsletter]