Australian banks were in better shape today after the United States Federal Reserve decided to leave interest rates alone for the moment, which helped lift the whole market.
Resource stocks weren’t quite so well off, with base metals prices hovering, the gold price hanging, and the oil price also softer, leaving mining companies without much to go by.
This was reflected in the split between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, which usually move in tandem. Today, Rio ended the day by falling A32c to $136.18, while BHP rose 23c to $43.95.
Fortescue Metals Group recovered from yesterday’s session with a 12c gain to $12.12, while Newcrest Mining also ended the day up 30c to $25.90 despite a UBS note downgrading the company’s profit margins in the wake of the Varanus Island explosion and the subsequent gas shortage.
Out of the day’s gainers, Poseidon Nickel was one of the better performers after announcing a $US50 million investment from Harbinger Capital, the New York investment fund that helped get Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest where he is today.
The nickel hopeful’s shares rose 17c or nearly 23% to 91c on the news.
Energy Resource of Australia also had a good day, lifting 97c to $23.10, on the back of no news. The company’s share price has see-sawed through June, trading across a $4 range with sharp ups and downs.
Iluka Resources continued its latest run of rises – the mineral sands miner has soared from $3.24 on June 16 to today’s closing price of $4.68, a rise of 45% in that period. Today the company’s shares rose 43c or 10%.
Grange Resources also lifted on news of an Indonesia magnetite joint venture, rising 10c or over 6% to $1.60.
The bigger shedders in the session included Pelican Metals, which dipped 3.5c to 11c, a fall of 24%, while Macarthur Coal continued to slide, falling another $1.10 or 5.7% to $17.90.
Back in iron ore, Midwest Corporation dropped 18c to $6.40 while Murchison Metals fell 7c to $3.49 after it was revealed the Australian Government had delayed a Foreign Investment Review Board decision into Sinosteel buying a stake in Murchison.
Since then, Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan said a decision on whether to approve a Sinosteel application to take a stake in Murchison will be made within 90 days.
Swan apparently did not comment on media reports suggesting the Australian Government plans to limit state-owned corporations – like Sinosteel – from taking over Australian companies.
