Aust, market remaims weak

Press, 28 October 1981, Page 26

Aust, market remaims weak

The Australian sharemarket showed no sign of pulling out of its prolonged slump yesterday as concern that the worst was yet to come for the U.S. economy pushed key indicators to their lowest level of the year.

The all-ordinaries index, which covers about threequarters of the market, finished the day 6.6 points down at 556.1.

The stage was set for a fall in Australian shareprices after recession-conscious New York traders pushed the Dow Jones index seven points lower to 831.

Turnover was thin in all corners of the market, but sellers were most active in the resource sector which continued to pump out discouraging news. CSR and BHP earned spots on the losing side after CSR reported that iron ore production at the Mount Newman mine in Western Australia had fallen 19 per cent in the September quarter. CSR, with a 20.4 per cent

interest in the project, fell 10c to 428 c and BHP, a 30 per cent shareholder, gave up 16c to 984 c.

Swan Brewery continued to trade quietly in the wake of Alan Bond’s increased take-over offer. The shares finished the day at a steady 250 c, 20c below the new offer just 50,000 shares changing hands in Sydney and Melbourne.

The- automotive distributor, York Motors, explained a 25c jump in the company’s shareprice with an announcement that an approach had been made which might lead to an offer for part of the capital. York’s largest shareholder, Lanes Motors Holdings, Ltd, of Melbourne, holds just 20 per cent of the capital; York shares were unchanged at 220 c yesterday.

An off-room sale of 200,000 North Kalgurli shares was reported at 125 c; on the open market the shares closed 5c up at 120 c. Metals Exploration increased its stake in the miner to 20 per cent last week. Woodside took one of the

steepest falls in the oils with a 10c fall to 115 c, its lowest price of the year. The oil-and-gas index fell 19.5 points to 566 and the metals-and-minerals index slid 7.2 points to 427.6; the industrials index weakened 2.8 points to 681.3. Among the leaders, MIM lost 7c to 315 c, WMC slid 10c

to 412 c, Peko was 16c weaker at 570 c, CRA eased 5c to 300 c, Bougainville dropped 4c to 112 c, Woolworths was up a cent at 169 c, the Bank of NSW was steady at 285 c, and the ANZ Bank/" slid 6c to 524 c. Falls outnumbered rises by a ratio of more than three to one.