Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares slip, weak Euro data and Rio results hurt sentiment

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Australia shares slip, weak Euro data and Rio results hurt sentiment Feb 15th 2013, 01:01 Tweet Share this Email Print Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:01pm EST (Adds details, comments, stocks on the move) SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Australian shares slipped 0.1 percent on Friday as the market consolidated recent strong gains and investors remained cautious after weak euro zone growth data and a $3 billion annual loss from Rio Tinto. Global iron ore miner Rio Tinto Ltd tumbled 2.4 percent after the company's new chief flagged he would slash costs, spend capital more carefully and focus on shareholder value as the world's no.3 miner reported a $3 billion loss, its first ever full-year loss. Rival BHP Billiton Ltd eased 0.6 percent. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was 6.9 points lower at 5,030 at 0044 GMT. "The European news overnight was unfortunately a little bit poor," said Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG Markets. "It's probably not affecting us as much as we expected; the real effect on our market has been the Rio Tinto result," which has tugged the market down, he said. Financials were mixed. Australia New Zealand Banking Group lost 0.8 percent. The bank reported a cash profit for the three months to 31 December 2012 of A$1.53 billion, but earnings were constrained by a weaker performance in the bank's international and institutional banking business. Australia's no.1 lender the Commonwealth Bank of Australia edged up 0.1 percent after reaching all-time highs earlier this week following a strong first half earnings report. National Australia Bank jumped 1.1 percent while Westpac Banking Corp was up 0.4 percent. Gold miners were also weak, with Newcrest Mining losing 0.5 percent while Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd tumbled 3.3 percent. The eurozone slipped into recession in the last three months of 2012 after its largest economies, Germany and France, shrank at the end of a wretched year for the region. "The European figures does show the region is fragile. Not as much as the lead from Europe as I expected but it certainly has seen us have a bit of a pause today rather than a drop," Lucas said. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index dropped 1.1 percent or 48.6 points to 4,190.6. New Zealand's Auckland International Airport Ltd fell 5.8 percent to NZ$2.77 after the government's NZ Superannuation Fund said it had sold 100 million airport company shares to institutional investors at NZ$2.76, a 6.1 percent discount to the closing price on Thursday. The sale saw the Fund reduce its holding to around 2 percent from around 10 percent. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Wesfarmers jumped 1.4 percent to A$39.43 after it posted half-year revenue from ordinary activities to A$30.6 billion. (0041 GMT) (Reporting by Thuy Ong and Gyles Beckford; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) 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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