WA resource companies have lifted Deloitte’s WA Index, with the total market capitalisation (cap) of all stocks growing by 2 per cent to $128 billion despite a short-term downward slide.
Deloitte’s latest report on WA stocks revealed coal-focussed Aquila Resource was the biggest mover of all the miners, with its market cap up 30 per cent to $177 million for the month of February. Mining service companies such as Imdex and Tutt Bryant also posted gains to their market caps, with Imdex up 33 per cent to $42.4 million and Tutt Bryant up 30.2 per cent to $43 million. “In February, commodity market prices rose across the board, with uranium prices leading the way with an 18 per cent rise,” Deloitte Perth office managing partner Keith Jones said.
Mr Jones said that for the month of February, the average price for precious and base metals was up 6.5 per cent. After uranium, the commodity with the second highest gain was nickel, which was up 13 per cent. The price of lead and tin grew 9 per cent and oil increased 6 per cent. “The only price decline was zinc, down slightly by 0.6 per cent,” he said. The Deloitte WA Index was the largest gainer of all indices for the month, with its stocks up 2 per cent. The Nikkei also rose, up 1.27 per cent. Both the FTSE and US S&P 500 slid, with the FTSE down 1.16 per cent and US S&P 500 falling 2.08 per cent.
During the preceding 12 months, the Deloitte WA Index surged more than 42 per cent, while other indices posted much slighter gains. The All Ordinaries rose 19.23 per cent, the US S&P 500 and FTSE rose 8 per cent, while the Nikkei increased 5 per cent during the same 12-month period.

 

By Lorna Seatter

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