Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australian shares down 0.4 percent on weaker commodities

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Australian shares down 0.4 percent on weaker commodities Apr 4th 2013, 01:29 Wed Apr 3, 2013 9:29pm EDT (Adds details, comments, stocks on the move) SYDNEY, April 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares inched down 0.4 percent in late morning trade on Thursday, modestly paring earlier losses after better-than-expected retail and building approvals data, but momentum was capped by volatile commodities prices. Copper fell to an eight-month low overnight, pushing speculators to take more short positions ahead of a two-day holiday in China, and oil was down most in five months as U.S. inventory rose to its highest since 1990. Developments on the Korean peninsula added to investor worries, said Martin Lakos, a division director at Macquarie Bank. "We saw that from VIX in the U.S. The volatility index was up another 1.5 points, so still fairly low, but over 14 now," he noted. The index came back modestly after Australia published strong retail sales and building approvals data, which analysts said will reduce the near-term chance of a central bank rate cut. Australian retail sales rose 1.3 percent in February, and building approvals rose 3.1 percent in the month. The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 18.1 points to trade at 4,939.6.2 by 0111 GMT. The benchmark dropped 0.6 percent on Wednesday. Major banks pulled back, except the biggest lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which bucked the trend and added 0.5 percent. Westpac Banking Corp fell 0.6 percent. Global miners BHP Billiton Ltd lost 1.5 percent, while Rio Tinto Ltd fell 1.0 percent. Energy stocks were hit by weaker oil prices, with Australia's biggest oil producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd losing 0.6 percent and the smaller Origin Energy Ltd down 3.1 percent. Consumer staples advanced, with supermarket chain Woolworths Ltd gaining 0.9 percent and rival Coles-owner Wesfarmers Ltd adding 0.1 percent. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index was up 0.1 percent to 4,419.1. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Australia's Fairfax Media dropped 3.2 percent to A$0.60, after the company said it is reorganising its business into five divisions to streamline its structure, focus on digital content and cut costs. (0110 GMT) * Gold miner Regis Resources Ltd plunged 3.8 percent to A$3.81, after it said it produced 74,588 ounces of gold in the March 2013 quarter. (0111 GMT) (Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang and Michael Sin; Editing by Eric Meijer) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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