BHP falls below $10

Press, 20 October 1981, Page 24

BHP falls below $10

Stock values continued to wither on the Australian sharemarket yesterday as the latest U.S. money supply figures lent weight to arguments that there was little near-term downside left on the U.S. interest rate scene. The all-ordinaries index, which covers about threequarters of the market, dropped another 7.4 points to 565.4 — just two points above its 1981 low — in one of the quietest trading sessions of the year. BHP underscored the market's weakness by falling through the $lO.OO mark for the first time in more than

two years; the stock, trading ex its 19c dividend, finished 46c down at 984 c. Vamgas was' among the few resource winners, with a 20c rise to $lO.OO ahead of an after-hours announcement that tests at the Blina No 2 well, in the Canning Basin, had recovered 1024 metres of oil. The well is' about one kilometre north of the Blina No I well which flowed oil at the rate of 905 bbl a day earlier this year. Other oils were weak. Woodside gave up 4c to 121 c. its lowest price for the year, and Santos slipped 10c to

500 c despite news that the Dilchee No 1 well in the Cooper Basin had flowed gas at the rate of 3.65 M cu ft a day. Gold stocks were generally ignored in light of the money supply news, but selected stocks associated with the Rabbit Warren prospect near Leonora, in Western Australia. came in for strong support after the release of assay results.