Renewables stocks gain 8.7% for month

The Australian CleanTech Index gained 1.9% in January 2015 and again outperformed the Small Ordinaries Index.

The Australian CleanTech Index rose from 42.84 to 43.66 over the month of January, recording a 1.9% gain. This compared to the S&P ASX200 gain of 3.3% and the S&P ASX Small Ordinaries Index gain of 1.0%. The Australian CleanTech 20 also recorded a 1.9% gain.

The quarterly and 12-month performances of the index remain ahead of both benchmarks with 5.8% and 11.2% gains respectively.

The best performing sub-indices for the month were the Australian Renewable Energy Index with a gain of 8.7% and the Australian Efficiency and Storage Index with a 1.2% gain. The weakest sub-index through January was the Australian Waste Index recording a loss of 5.6%.

The market capitalisation of the 62 stocks in the Australian CleanTech Index is $17.3 billion, setting another new high and up from its low of $6.2 billion in July 2012.

The month's performance was driven by 12 companies with gains of more than 15%. The greatest percentage gains were recorded by Mission NewEnergy (MBT), CleanTeQ (CLQ) and Soil Sub Technologies (SOI). The greatest market capitalisation gain was again recorded by Mighty River Power (MYT).

These gains were partially offset by nine companies recording losses of more than 15% led by Solco (SOO), Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFU) and Quantum Energy (QTM). The greatest market capitalisation loss was again recorded by Sims Metal Management (SGM).

These best and worst performers are shown in the table below.