ASX Hot Stocks: Telstra, Fortescue, and Papillon
The S&P/ASX 200 Index has finished down 0.24% in a topsy-turvy day, with shares sliding throughout the day until the Reserve Bank announced a 0.25% cut to interest rates, which saw the market rocket up, and then slide into the close.
The Australian dollar has dropped against the U.S. dollar, now buying 101.9 cents, following the RBA's cut to interest rates.
Here's why these three stocks are hot right now.
Telstra Corporation lost AU$0.05 to close at AU$5.01 after the giant telecom announced that it had bought AU$1.3 billion of new spectrum auctioned off by the federal government. The purchases will be financed through debt, and spectrum licenses have a term of 15 years and will allow Telstra to enhance its network through faster speeds and wider coverage on its superfast 4G network. Rural and regional areas should be prime beneficiaries, as some of the spectrum can travel relatively longer distances.
Fortescue Metals Group closed up 2.2% at AU$3.69 after announcing yesterday the official opening of its Firetail Mine, its third mine in five years. Firetail is a key component in the Solomon project that will see Fortescue lift production to 155 million tonnes per annum by the end of 2013. Firetail itself will produce 20 million tonnes, while the second development, the Kings mine, will produce another 40 million tonnes per year. Shares in ASX-listed iron-ore miners rose, despite iron ore falling below $130 per tonne in the last few days.
Papillon Resources , a gold-explorer focused on projects in Mali, dropped more than 10% to close at AU$0.84. More than 21 million shares changed hands -- about 20 times its average daily volume. While the company had no news to report, Mali is an extremely dangerous place to operate in. In January this year, 41 foreign workers were kidnapped from an oil production facility in neighbouring Algeria. Political instability hit the country a year ago through a military mutiny, which resulted in civil unrest and widespread looting.
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The article ASX Hot Stocks: Telstra, Fortescue, and Papillon originally appeared on Fool.com.
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