Asciano can't explain share hike

by Sam Collyer of www.railexpress.com.au
Asciano recorded an unexpected surge in its share price yesterday, with the ports and rail group adding $146m to its market capitalisation.

By the close of trading on the Australian Securities Exchange, Asciano's market value had increased more than 40% to $0.63 a share, up from a near-record low of $0.42 earlier in the day.

However, much of yesterday's gains were in the process of being wiped out this morning after Asciano said it had no new information on what had caused the price fluctuation.

Asciano shares were trading at $0.54 early this afternoon.

Asciano confirmed that it had nothing to add to last week's 2008/09 interim results briefing, which showed a first half net loss of $92m and net bank debt of $4.6bn.