Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares touch 20-month high; BHP gains on output rise

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Australia shares touch 20-month high; BHP gains on output rise Jan 23rd 2013, 01:19 Tweet Share this Email Print Related Topics Basic Materials » Energy » Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:19pm EST (Updates with CPI numbers) MELBOURNE, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 0.3 percent on Wednesday, touching a 20-month high for a second consecutive day, as miner BHP Billiton gained after reporting a rise in quarterly iron ore production. The market barely flinched as data showed Australian consumer price inflation was unexpectedly benign last quarter due to falls in food, electronics and drugs. The local dollar eased slightly as the data modestly added to the chance of a rate cut next month. "There's probably a 35 to 40 percent chance of a February rate cut, so not enough to get it over the line. But certainly we think the prospects of a March rate cut are very real," said Brian Redican, senior economist at Macquarie Bank. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 15 points at 4,794.4 by 0101 GMT. Its session high of 4,802.2 was the strongest since May 2011. "It's had a pretty good trot. The asset location shift - out of what are likely to be lower returns in fixed interest and those types of things into equities - makes sense to us. But whether the upcoming earnings results in February can justify the price moves, well, time will tell," said John Milroy, client adviser at Macquarie Private Wealth. New Zealand's NZX 50 index rose 0.1 percent to 4,192.2. The Standard & Poor's 500 hit a fresh five-year closing high overnight. STOCKS ON THE MOVE: * Top miner BHP rose 1.2 percent to A$37 after it reported a 3 percent rise in iron ore production in the December quarter. 0017 GMT * St Barbara Ltd rose 7 percent to A$1.555 after it announced consolidated gold production of 92,691 ounces for the December quarter. 0017 GMT * Mirabela Nickel Ltd fell 6.6 percent after UBS cut its target price on its Toronto listing to C$0.75, from C$0.90. 0019 GMT (Reporting by Miranda Maxwell; Editing by Chris Gallagher) Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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