Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares weaken after rate cut, Graincorp jumps

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 weaken after rate cut, Graincorp jumps Dec 4th 2012, 05:37 Tweet Share this Email Print Tue Dec 4, 2012 12:37am EST (Adds details, comments) CANBERRA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares slipped 0.6 percent on Tuesday, weakening further after the central bank cut interest rates a quarter point to a record-matching low, with investor sentiment dampened by concerns about U.S. growth and Washington budget talks. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut its main cash rate to 3.0 percent following its monthly policy meeting, bringing the easing since May to 125 basis points and matching the trough hit during the darkest days of the global financial crisis. "It basically wouldn't be enough. They need to do a lot more than that," said Damien Boey, an equity strategist at Credit Suisse. "But on the other side, if they did more than that, if they did more than 50 bps, they are basically admitting they have a problem, in which case the market will also sour," he said. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index lost 27.9 points to 4,503.6, according to the latest data. It rose 0.6 percent on Monday to a five-week high. Top miner BHP Billiton fell 0.8 percent to A$34.26, and rival Rio Tinto Ltd slipped 0.2 percent to A$58.41. Major banks all lost ground after the rate cut, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia declining 0.5 percent and Wespac Banking Corp losing 0.6 percent. Department store Myer Holdings jumped as much as 4 percent before the rate cut, but ended flat. Smaller rival David Jones edged up 0.4 percent. Retailers should normally benefit from a rate cut, but analysts said it might take time for the banks to pass on the cut. "It (the rate cut) might not have the same impact as a November cut might have had," said Cameron Peacock, a market analyst at IG Markets. He said a cut last month would have had more time to work through the system. Shares in GrainCorp Ltd jumped 3.2 percent, after U.S. agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co raised its takeover bid for the grains handling company. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.8 percent to 4,015.7. (Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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