PAPUA NEW GUINEA stocks made significant gains for the second successive day on the Australian Stock Exchange, where two-day gains almost made up for the 7% market collapse on Tuesday.
Oil Search rose by A$0.14 or 3.3% to A$4.34 on a turnover of 9.2 million shares; while Lihir Gold gained A$0.11, or 3.1%, to A$3.65 on a turnover of 12.5 million shares.
Following release of its quarterly report on Wednesday, Highlands Pacific rose A$0.01 to A$0.12; Allied Gold was up A$0.02 to A$0.735; Emperor Mining was up A$0.04 to A$0.063 while Marengo was unchanged at A$0.25. Frontier Resources, however, fell A$0.01 to A$0.09.
The ASX All Ordinaries index rose 2.9% to 5,605.80 in line with continuing increases in markets in Japan, Hong Kong and China.
Australia’s leading gold miner, Newcrest, fell 2.6% to A$34 (K87.25) a share to be one of the worst performers among mining stocks after it reported that production costs had soared at its Telfer gold mine in Western Australia.
Newcrest also lowered its projected output for the 2008 financial year by 54,000 ounces to between 430,000 and 450,000 ounces.
The banks were also stronger with National Australia Bank gaining 4.1% to A$33.75 while ANZ was up 3.2% to A$26.02.
Resources leader BHP Billiton rose 2.7% to A$34.82 (K89.35) while its likely target for a major takeover, Rio Tinto, gained 2.3% to A$108.47 (K277.14).