THE market capitalisation of WA companies increased 9 per cent during July and a further 4 per cent in August, according to the Deloitte WA Index. The results bucked previous negative
growth, spurred on by Fortescue Metals Group’s 42.4 per cent increase in market capitalisation during the two month period.
Other companies that achieved significant growth included Saracen Mineral Holdings at 71.9 per cent, Lonestar Resources at 47.1 per cent and Calibre Group at 45.1 per cent.
Deloitte Perth lead audit partner Tim Richards said the growth was stimulated by recovering commodities prices on the back of positive Chinese economic data.
“The Chinese economy is transitioning to an economy that is driven by domestic consumption, as local demand in China increases rapidly,” Mr Richards said.
“WA’s economic growth is highly dependent on the resources sector as well as the Chinese economy, with an expected growth rate of 4.3 per cent in [financial year] 2014 – which is considered a strong growth rate for a developed economy, despite being lower than what we have seen in WA in recent years.”
The report also stated that the majority of base metals and industrial commodities continued to achieve record price growth.
In August the price of gold and silver increased 6.7 per cent and 18.6 per cent respectively, with both closing at their highest level in four months. Conflicts in Libya and Egypt also increased concern regarding oil supply, pushing the crude oil price up 8.6 per cent to US$117.32.

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