Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia stocks fall; David Jones at 2-month low

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 stocks fall; David Jones at 2-month low Nov 21st 2012, 05:50 MELBOURNE | Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:50am EST MELBOURNE Nov 21 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 0.4 percent on Wednesday, weighed by losses in top miners and energy firms as concern over economic growth in Europe and the United States revived risk-aversion. The market softened after a warning from the Federal Reserve about the U.S. fiscal impasse, and investors were further discouraged after Greece's international lenders failed for a second week running to agree how to cut the country's debt. "The price action suggests market participants are unclear of what to make of recent developments and therefore this warrants some caution," said Stan Shamu, strategist at IG Markets. Investors now await HSBC China Flash PMI data on Thursday for further clues to the health of the Chinese economy. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 16 points to 4,369.5 according to the latest data. It rose 0.6 percent on both Tuesday and Monday. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index was flat, slipping just 1.7 points to 3,971.2. Department store David Jones Ltd slumped 6 percent to A$2.41, its weakest close in two months, after it reported a 0.3 percent rise in first-quarter sales, missing analyst forecasts.. Rival Myer Holdings fell 3.2 percent to A$2.10. BHP Billiton fell 0.7 percent while Rio Tinto sank 0.9 percent, weighed as iron ore prices hit two-week lows. "While shares may still have a few more wobbles in the near term, we remain of the view that shares will end the year higher and continue to move up, albeit with occasional set backs, next year," said Shane Oliver, strategist at AMP Capital. "One dampener though remains the strong Australian dollar which continues to make life tough for Australia companies and which makes it hard to be confident that Australian shares will outperform global shares," he said. (Reporting by Miranda Maxwell; Editing by Richard Pullin) 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