WA stocks steady in April after strong six months

During the month the value of WA listed companies which comprise the Deloitte WA Index closed marginally lower at $164.6 billion, a decrease of 0.5 per cent from March.
The sector results were mixed, with a significant increase of $3.4 billion (6.1 per cent) in the mining sector being offset by decreases in retail, iron, steel and oil and gas sectors of $2.5 billion (7.8 per cent), $1.1 billion (5.3 per cent), $979 million (2.5 per cent) respectively.
“The mixed sector performance in Western Australia has been shaped by continued commodity demand, but mixed recovery messages in the offshore financial markets leaves the market volatile,” Keith Jones, managing partner of Deloitte in WA said.
“Since the end of April we have also seen more uncertainty in the market due to the Federal Government’s proposed new mining tax. The challenge for all listed-companies is to arm themselves with the full knowledge of the benefits and impacts of the Henry Tax Review and communicate this to shareholders in a timely manner,” Jones said.
The ‘Movers and Shakers’ for the month of April include Coalspur Mining Ltd and Medusa Mining Limited with the market capitalisation of each company increasing by 47 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.
During April, Coalspur Mining highlighted the completion of a positive scoping study confirming the economic viability of its Hinton Coal Project (HCP) in Canada. This followed the announcement of a placement to the Highland Park Group in order to raise $30 million via an equity issue of 60 million shares at $0.50 each. The company said the placement would strengthen Coalspur’s financial position and accelerate the development of the HCP.
The market capitalisation of gold producer Medusa Mining increased in April following three positive ASX announcements. Medusa reported record gold production of 25,505 ozs for quarter one (previous quarter: 21,108 ozs) at an average grade of 20.61 g/t gold, and also signalled their intention to apply for trading on the London Stock Exchange Main Market. In addition, Medusa announced that through its Philippines operating company, Philsaga Mining Corporation, drilling will commence during May at their Saugon First Hit Vein Prospect.
Most major world indices declined in April, with the exception of the US S&P 500 which saw an increase of 2.86 per cent for the month. The FTSE 100 and All Ordinaries declined by 1.23 per cent and 1.21 per cent respectively and Nikkei by 0.29 per cent.
The commodities market recorded mixed movements in April. The price for palladium, which is used in the manufacture of catalytic converters for automobiles, jumped by 14.22 per cent for the month. Solid gains were also made by silver (6.67 per cent), gold (5.92 per cent), platinum (5.67 per cent) and nickel (5.14 per cent), while copper, zinc and aluminium experienced declines of 4.68 per cent, 3.90 per cent and 2.99 per cent respectively.