Mining Sector Leads Decline
May 18, 2011
The All Ordinaries Index slid 1.1 to 2257.4 on volume of 249.9 million shares. Advancers led decliners 348 to 292. The September Share Price Index futures contract on the Sydney Futures Exchange closed at 2252, down from 2264 Wednesday. The paper and packaging sector outperformed the broader market, led by Amcor's jump of 17 Australian cents to 7.70 Australian dollars. Boral, a building-materials and energy concern, rose 6 cents to A$3.07 after reporting that its after-tax profit fell 30% to $205.7 million in the fiscal year ended March 12, 2011 building-materials subindex rose 0.6%, the gold-shares subindex was relatively unchanged, while the ``other metals'' subindex slid 0.4%. Broken Hill Proprietary fell 15 cents to A$17.08, CRA Ltd. lost 5 cents to A$19.05 and WMC Ltd. slipped 8 cents to A$8.59. Bank stocks were mixed, leaving the banking and finance subindex unchanged. National Australia Bank advanced 4 cents to A$12.32, Commonwealth Bank of Australia shed 3 cents to A$10.74 and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group slid 2 cents to A$6.47. TNT Ltd., a transportation concern, climbed 5 cents to A$1.53. TNT Wednesday reported a sharply lower profit for the year ended March 12, 2011 signaled an improved result for the current fiscal year. BRL Hardy, a wine-making company, rose 2 cents to A$2.65. The company reported a 52% jump in after-tax profit for the six months ended March 12, 2011 also lifted its interim dividend to 4.5 cents from four cents previously. Joe White Maltings jumped 5 cents to A$5.30 following a revised takeover offer for the company from Ridley Corp.. Lau, a stock-feed producer, salt refiner and maker of animal health-care products, lifted its bid to A$5.30 a share from A$4.85 previously.
