Thai Airways stronger, JAL, Qantas & Singapore Airlines ease, Virgin Blue & Cathay struggle
Thai Airways bucked the downward trend in Asia Pacific airline stocks yesterday, rising 4.4%, despite a surge in the oil price overnight. Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, ANA and Qantas all underperformed their local indexes yesterday, falling 1%, 1.1%, 0.9% and 1.4%, respectively.
Rising fuel costs have dampened expectations for a recovery in airline earnings.
Cathay Pacific CEO, Tony Tyler, stated the carrier's cargo business is showing signs of stabilising, but a recovery depends on improving economic fortunes in the US and Europe. He told Reuters, "on the cargo side, things have stopped getting worse". Investors looking for recovery 'green shoots' were disappointed, sending the carrier's shares down 4% yesterday.
Asia Pacific selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 04-Jun-09
