The Australian All Ordinaries traded relatively flat today, with the index last valued at about 5,130 points as a rebound in resource stocks offset weak trading elsewhere in the economy.
Energy stocks were firmer even as West Texas Intermediate crude prices wallowed at about US437.50 a barrel.
The industrials and telecommunications services sectors, meanwhile, were firmly in the red.
MARKET ACTION
Carnarvon Petroleum (ASX:CVN) shares were last trading 6.4% higher today at A$0.117, representing an 11.4% improvement over the past week despite the pressure on oil prices which has plagued many other companies in this sector.
Carnarvon’s buoyancy during this rough patch has been largely associated with momentum at its offshore Roc-1 oil well in Australia’s North West Shelf region.
Positive trading today has coincided with news that the company’s partner Quandrant Energy had drilled down to 3,405 metres, completing a section of the well. The total depth is expected to be 4,700 metres in late-December 2015, and then the well will be suspended if successful.
Roc – which is part of the broader Phoenix project area – is targeting the same Lower Keraudren reservoir in which oil was discovered in the 2014 Phoenix South-1 well.
Carnarvon is targeting a best-case estimate of 42 million barrels of oil at Roc.
This would represent a substantial portion of the larger Phoenix resource, estimated in a best-case scenario to total 104 million barrels of oil over only 5% of acreage held by Carnarvon.
BLUE CHIPS
Prices heading up to the close of trade:
Major miners
BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) up 1.1% to $17.24
Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) up 1.4% to $1.83
Newcrest (ASX:NCM) up 2.3% to $12.15
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) down 0.5% to $42.17
Energy or Oil and Gas
Oil Search (ASX:OSH) up 0.5% to $6.32
Santos (ASX:STO) up 5.4% to $3.49
Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) up 0.8% to $27.10
Big 4 banks
ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) down 1.3% to $26.46
Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) up 0.3% to $80.39
National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) down 1.2% to $28.95
Westpac (ASX:WBC) down 0.6% to $32.04
Other banks, financials and industrials
AMP (ASX:AMP) down 0.8% to $5.77
Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) down 0.6% to $13.28
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN) flat at $11.11
Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) down 2.0% to $80.72
Suncorp (ASX:SUN) down 0.9% to $13.27
Telstra (ASX:TLS) down 0.9% to $5.31
Retailers
JB Hi-FI (ASX:JBH) up 1.4% to $18.13
Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) down 0.9% to $38.07
Woolworths (ASX:WOW) down 0.2% to $23.62
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