Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares seen lower on Fed's policy concerns

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Australia shares seen lower on Fed's policy concerns Jan 3rd 2013, 22:38 Tweet Share this Email Print Thu Jan 3, 2013 5:38pm EST SYDNEY, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares are likely to pull back on Friday after a sharp two-day rally following a dip on Wall Street, although big miners may hold their recent gains due to China's expanding demand for iron ore. * Local stock price index futures dropped 0.1 percent, or 3 points to 4,713, a 27.7 discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index. The benchmark rose 0.7 percent to 4,740.7 on Thursday, its highest since May 19. * New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index inched up 0.2 percent to 4,091.0 in early trade. * After a two-day rally, U.S. stocks dipped on Thursday on signs the Federal Reserve has concerns about its highly stimulative monetary policy. * Copper fell slightly as the dollar firmed on worries about new budget battles over spending cuts in the United States, though promising data from top metals consumer China helped to cap losses. * Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland surged 25 percent in December, from the previous month, and total iron ore shipments in December jumped 20 percent to almost 26 million tonnes, the highest reading on record. BHP Billiton is the port's biggest user, followed by Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. * Spot iron ore prices climbed to a 15-month high of $149.80 a tonne .IO62-CNI=SI on Thursday thanks to demand from China, the world's largest consumer of the steel making ingredient. Iron ore prices have been in a steep ascent over the last three months. * Shares in Commonwealth Bank of Australia shot to a record high on Thursday following the breakthrough in the US budget crisis. * Shares in construction company Macmahon Holdings Ltd are likely to move after India's Punj Lloyd Ltd said its Sembawang Australia unit had offered to buy Macmahon's construction businesses. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2205 GMT ------------ INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1459.37 -0.21% -3.050 USD/JPY 87.24 0.01% 0.010 10-YR US TSY YLD 1.9112 -- 0.076 SPOT GOLD 1663.3 0.02% 0.350 US CRUDE 92.85 -0.29% -0.270 DOW JONES 13391.36 -0.16% -21.19 ASIA ADRS 135.09 -0.70% -0.95 ------------------------------------------------------------- * Fed minutes short-circuit Wall St rally * Brent crude slips as profit taking, Fed minutes weigh * Gold down 1.2 pct as Fed minutes show doubts on QE * Copper edges down as dlr rises on US budget concerns For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on (Reporting By Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by John Mair) 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.

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