2/15/2012 10:29 PM ET
(RTTNews) – Asian stock markets are mostly trading notably lower on Thursday with the overnight weak close on Wall Street and worries about the Greek economy following the delay in announcing the debt relief prompting investors to indulge in some hectic selling. Profit taking after the previous session’s fairly strong upmove is also contributing to the weakness.
The Australian stock market is down sharply with investors pressing sales almost across the board. Mining, energy, financial and consumer staples stocks are mostly trading notably lower. Industrial, healthcare and property trusts stocks are also trading weak.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 72.4 points or 1.7 percent at 4,181. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,257, down 70.4 points or 1.6 percent from its previous close.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank and National Australia Bank are both trading lower by 1.5 percent, Westpac is down with a loss of 3.6 percent and Commonwealth Bank of Australia is down 0.5 percent. Bank of Queensland is down 1.8 percent, while Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is trading lower by nearly a percent.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Newcrest Mining are down 1.7 to 2.3 percent, while Fortescue Metals is down with a loss of over 3.5 percent.
In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum, Santos, Oil Search and Origin Energy are down 1.5 to 1.7 percent. Caltex Australia is trading lower by 2.2 percent.
Goodman Fielder is down nearly 5.5 percent following a sharp 77 percent decline in net profit for the six months to December 2011. Lynas Corporation is trading lower by over 4.5 percent.
Boart Longyear, Atlas Iron, Incitec Pivot, Oz Minerals and Amcor are down 3 to 4 percent. Echo Entertainment Group, Brambles, Seven West Media, Bluescope Steel, AMP, Panaust and Crown are trading lower by 2.3 to 3 percent.
Qantas Airways is trading nearly 5 percent up despite the company reporting an 83 percent drop in first-half profit to A$42 million. Primary Healthcare is gaining about 4.5 percent. Seek is up nearly 3 percent and David Jones is trading 2.8 percent up.
On the economic front, the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday – beating forecasts for 5.3 percent and down from December’s reading of 5.2 percent.
Australia added 46,300 jobs in January, the data showed – blowing past expectations for an addition of 10,000 following the surprising loss of a downwardly revised 35,600 jobs in December. The participation rate was 65.3 percent, matching forecasts and up marginally from 65.2 percent in December.
