Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares up 0.4 pct, financials up; investors still cautious

Reuters: Hot Stocks Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Australia shares up 0.4 pct, financials up; investors still cautious Apr 22nd 2013, 02:16 Sun Apr 21, 2013 10:16pm EDT (Adds details, comments, stocks on the move) SYDNEY, April 22 (Reuters) - Australian shares gained 0.4 percent in late morning trade on Monday as financials advanced after Wall Street's rise on Friday, but buyers remained tentative following a volatile trading period last week. Investors were guarded after weak data from China and the U.S. last week raised concerns about the health of the global economy, triggering a rout for commodities and a broad selloff in global stocks. "Investors are heading into this week cautiously, as the market lacks a clear direction for the moment," said Biyi Cheng, head of dealing Asia Pacific at City Index in Sydney. "They are waiting for some key economic data for further indication of the growth outlook," Cheng added, referring to the HSBC purchasing managers index (PMI) and Australia's inflation numbers due later this week. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 20.7 points to 4,952.6 by 0050 GMT, taking its cue from a strong finish on Wall Street on Friday and a rebound in gold prices. The benchmark advanced 0.2 percent on Friday, but suffered its biggest weekly loss in almost a month as the plunge in commodities and concerns about global growth heightened worries about demand for the resource-rich nation's raw materials. Global miner BHP Billiton pared earlier losses and bounced back 0.2 percent, while rival Rio Tinto Ltd jumped 1.3 percent. Buying in the big miners, however, was crimped by Friday's decline in copper and iron ore prices. "For industrial commodities like oil and copper, it's more about the growth scenario," said CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy. Financials held their ground with all the big four banks rising slightly. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group led the pack, gaining 0.4 percent, while No. 1 lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia edged 0.3 percent higher. "We see good resilience in their share prices, and that appears to reflect the investment fundamentals that are driving investors towards these stocks, which is the higher dividend yield," said McCarthy. The energy sector was also firmer, as Australia's biggest oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd climbed 0.7 percent on recovering oil prices. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.8 percent to 4,478.2. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * OZ Minerals dropped 5.8 percent to A$4.53, after cutting its copper production forecast for 2013 to 82,000-88,000 tonnes, and reporting cash costs had risen in the March quarter to $1.85 a pound, well above guidance between $1.50 and $1.65 a pound. (0142 GMT) * Some gold miners were lifted by rebounding gold prices, as cash gold and U.S. gold futures jumped more than 1 percent on Monday after a rebound to $1,400 an ounce ignited technical buying. OceanaGold Corp jumped 5.7 percent to A$1.95 and Regis Resources Ltd gained 1.7 percent to A$3.56. (0148 GMT) * Engineering firm Calibre Group Ltd surged 6.3 percent to A$0.42, after the company said its contract unit has won an A$140 million contract from BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (bma). (0145 GMT) (Reporting By Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions