Bleak Market for Aussies

With the continued political unrest due to the failure of talks in forming a government in Greece, the Australian market outlook is bleak. 

The Australian housing industry is anticipating a weak year ahead with the net profit falling to $76.3 million this year (March 31) as compared to last year’s $503.4 million.  According to CSR, this has been the lowest housing activity it has seen in the last 15 years. 

Furthermore, funding for the expansion of Ararat Prison set at $350 million has run out. St. Hilliers Construction Pty Ltd, a Sydney-based company in charge of this project, was placed in voluntary administration. 

On a positive note, the Mondelphous Group is set to continue their strategic development according to their managing director Rob Velletri.  The engineering company bagged two contracts in Western Australia worth around $150 million—BHP Billiton’s Macedon Gas Project and Rio Tinto’s construction of a gas transmission pipeline. 

On transportation, Toll Holdings forecasted that earnings would go down between $400 and $420 million compared to last year’s $436 million in June.  This is due to the poor conditions in retail and the devaluation of the Japanese express freight unit. 

A look on the stock market at noon showed that only 14 of the 200 were up which included Cochlear, Primary Health Care, and Fairfax Media.  ASX200 is still in the red for two months in a row.

Generally, energy and materials stock are in the red as well showing a 10 per cent slide.  The top 3 biggest losers this May include Iluka (23 percent), Alumina (18 percent), and Toll (17 percent).