Australian market quiet but firm

Press, 22 June 1981, Page 22

Australian market quiet but firm

Trading on the Australian sharemarket finished on a quiet note last week as the lifting of bans by Telecom technicians failed to fulfil predictions of a rush of pentup buying. Take-overs, both real and imagined, and a flurry of activity in the oils continued to provide the only tinge of excitement in a market dominated by a drifting gold price, new upward pressures on short term United States interest rates, and plans by the United States to sell up to 105 M ounces of' silver

from its strategic stockpile. Oil shares had one of their best days, ever on Monday after reports from Canada suggested that the Blina No.

1 well could flow up to 2000 bbl a day with the help of acid stimulation. Vamgas, . which reported last month that the well had tested at 905 bpd, rose to a record $15.70 on the reports, to help the oil and gas index put on 42.5 points to 930.7. Profit-taking and news that Britain had dropped the price of its North Sea crude by $4.25 a bbl to $35 took the steam out of the sector on Tuesday, but the index was still showing a gain of 37.3 points on the week at the close of 925.5.

Among the oils, Vamgas added 90c to $14.90, Woodside was 3c up at 220 c, Crusader was 100 c stronger at 800 c, Bridge was 50c higher at 700 c. and Santos gained 70c to 700 c. Banks were also on the rise after the Treasurer (Mr Howard) announced approval for the CBA-Wales and CBCNational mergers. But the bachelor of the' btifich, the ANZ, was among the stronger issues with a gain of 18c to 530 c.. • • The long-running H. C. Sleigh-Petersville take-over saga moved a step closer to being resolved when Sleigh raised its bid from 235 c a share to 275 c. However, a

new twist was added on Thursday when rumours that Henry Jones (IXL) had Sleigh in its take-over sights lifted the shares from 145 c to 175 c before Caltex Australia killed speculation that it had sold its 26 per cent’holding in Sleigh to the Jones camp. The MLC Group vras among the big performers outside the mining sector on speculation that Industrial Equity would move to increase its shareholding after increasing its stake from 13 per cent to 15 per cent. The insurer’s shares finished the week 30c up at 870 c. Elsewhere, BHP was steady at sls,' CSR eased 10c to 620 c. CRA was 2c up at 460 c. Peko fell 20c to 840 c, Pancontinental lost 60c to 660 c, WMC was 8c weaker at 544 c, and MIM dropped 10c to 475 c, The all-ordinaries index finished the week 1.9 points up at 707.9.