Aust. market dives despite oil strike

Press, 30 January 1984, Page 21

Aust. market dives despite oil strike

NZPA Sydney The Australian sharemarket was propelled into a steep decline last week by Wall Street's slide and poor performances by gold and copper on world markets. Over the five trading days, the all-ordinaries index shed 15.8 points to 765.6, the all-resources index lost 22.6 points to 561.2. and the all-industrials index fell just 6.9 points to 1023.9. The all-metals-and-min-erals index finished the week at 517.3, close to its base level six months ago. Huge gains by interest holders in the Turtle One well provided the chief trading interest of the week. The well, in the Bonaparte Basin, off Western Australia, was reported by in-terest-holders to have encountered a hydrocarbon column about 20 metres thick earlier in the week. The buying surge began on Tuesday and gathered pace over the rest of the week, punctuated by bouts of profit taking. Home Energy (with a 25 per cent holding) began the week at 110 and closed at 175. Its contributing shares shot to 164 c from 83. Canada North-west Australia Oil (27.75 per cent) soared to 90c from 34c while its options leapt from 15c to 70c during the week. York Resources (3.5 per cent) rose to 60c from 35c, Cultus Pacific (10 per cent) climbed to 42c from 23c,

and Tri-arc Energy rose to 50c from 22c. Pelsart Resources, which is in danger of losing its 1.5 per cent interest in the well through a legal technicality, rose only 1c during the week. Oil analysts say Turtle One is an" attractive well and would be easily commercial with reserves well under 100 million barrels because of its location and the fact that it is being drilled in depths of only 23 metres. However, while they have estimated reserves at a maximum of 80M barrels on the basis of available information, they say the well is yet to drill into more attractive sands which could be oil-bearing. The earnings potential of a Gold Coast casino gave stags a pay-out on Thursday when Jupfters Trust hit the boards at 145 c, 45c above the float price, and its 20c paid units traded as high as 61c before closing at 58c. Turnover in the ordinary shares was only 6800 but nearly a million partly paid units changed hands in Melbourne and more than three million in Queensland. B.H.P. endured the brunt of the bearish influence of metal prices, finishing the week at 1360, compared with a high this month at 1445 c. But News Corporation was unstoppable, advancing steadily to close at 1300 c.