Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares down as banks falter; cautious ahead of China output data

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Australia shares down as banks falter; cautious ahead of China output data Aug 9th 2013, 02:51 Thu Aug 8, 2013 10:51pm EDT (Adds analysis, quotes, stocks on the move) SYDNEY Aug 9 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 0.4 percent on Friday as high-yielding banking stocks pulled back, while investors remained cautious ahead of Chinese industrial production data later in the day. Investors were awaiting industrial output and retail sales data due out shortly for further clues on whether growth is stabilizing in Asia's economic powerhouse and Australia's main export market. July trade figures from China on Thursday showed a surprisingly strong rebound, and helped support Australian and other regional markets the previous day. "Further signs of improvement in today's industrial production and retail sales numbers would be a relief for the market," said CMC Market analyst Ric Spooner. "A good industrial production number is likely to see mining stocks improve on this morning's solid opening." High dividend yielding financial sector stocks were sold off. Top lender the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corp each lost 0.7 percent. The big four banks have dividend yields of some 5.4 percent each and have risen 18.2 percent on average so far in 2013, prompting some investors to lock in profits. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 18.5 points to 5,046.3 by 0246 GMT, although losses were contained by gains in miners and the positive sentiment stemming from Wall Street's overnight rise. The benchmark climbed 1.1 percent on Thursday. The market has bounced back from a trough of 4,632.3 points hit on June 25, but worries about slowing growth in China and uncertainty about the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus programme have seen the index pull back from the previous week's 5,100 level. Elsewhere, Australia's central bank on Friday said it continued to see a benign outlook for inflation, suggesting it may yet have room to cut interest rates further if needed. Defensives with high yields including Telstra Corporation Ltd and retail giant Wesfarmers Ltd also lost ground, down 1.1 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. The mining sector, however, was supported by a surge in metals prices overnight as copper hit its highest in almost two months and gold surged nearly 2 percent on upbeat trade data from China. BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd climbed 1.8 percent and 1.4 percent respectively. Newcrest Mining Ltd jumped 4.1 percent. Tabcorp Holdings Ltd lost 3.6 percent after the company's full year profit slumped 63 percent to A$126.6 million from a year earlier, mainly hurt by the restructure of the gambling industry and a $47.2 million write off on its decommissioned Victorian Tabaret Gaming business. Billabong International Ltd extended its sharp rebound, surging 13.9 percent to a 4-1/2 month high of A$0.65. Analysts said refinancing deals and a stronger balance sheet had helped the embattle company bounce back from all-time lows of A$0.12 hit in June this year. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.1 percent or 6.7 points to 4,534.7. (Reporting by Thuy Ong; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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