Australian market closes easier

Press, 5 June 1982, Page 18

Australian market closes easier

Activity in the oil. sector dominated trading on the Australian sharemarket yesterday, with the oils boosted by a few good hydrocarbon flows and take-over interest. The market was weaker in quiet trading with most sectors falling in line with developments overseas, and a fall in gold in London and New York overnight. At the close, the All-Ordin-aries Index, which on Thursday dropped below its 500base mark for the first time since May 6. was 1.9 points down at 497.9. The industrials and resource sectors fell by similar amounts.

The oil and gas indicator put on 5.8 points. The main interest was the

Jackson South Two well in the Cooper-Eromanga basin of South-West Queensland, which flowed 1430 barrels of oil a day. Of the partners, Claremont rose 4c to 79c, Santos was 10c up at 536 c, but Vamgas failed to move from 780 c. CSR, which has an interest in Jackson through Delhi, could not shake off traders who are unimpressed by its recent profit fall, and it slipped 7c to 293 c. Brokers said Santos was likely to have risen anyway in reaction to its sharp and unexpected drop on Thursday which followed Bond Corp’s sale of a large slice of the Cooper Basin stock at a price equal to 668 c a share.