Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares recover on Wall St gains, Bernanke comments

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Australia shares recover on Wall St gains, Bernanke comments Feb 27th 2013, 00:45 Tweet Share this Email Print Tue Feb 26, 2013 7:45pm EST (Adds details, comments, stocks on the move) SYDNEY, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 0.6 percent on Wednesday after Wall Street rebounded on comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that reassured investors the Fed would keep buying bonds, easing worries of an early end to policy stimulus. "We're reacting positively to Wall Street last night," said Steven Daghlian, market analyst at Commonwealth Securities. "This was thanks to some strong economic data coming from North America, consumers are at the most confident in three months there and home prices rose." The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was 30.6 points higher at 5,034.2 at 0036 GMT. "The market's making up for the heavy 1 percent fall on Tuesday today," said Daghlian. Financials underpinned the market, Commonwealth Bank of Australia posted the largest gain, climbing 0.8 percent. Blue chip miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd rose 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent respectively as a powerful cyclone was headed for Australia's Port Headland, which handles a fifth of the world's seaborne-traded iron ore. The cyclone stalled off the coast but was set to make landfall later on Wednesday with destructive winds and flooding. The defensives sector underpinned the market, with blood products maker CSL Ltd jumping 1.2 percent. Top telecoms provider Telstra Ltd added 0.5 percent. Retailer Wesfarmers Ltd gained 1.2 percent while rival Woolworths Ltd rose 0.6 percent. Insurers recovered. QBE Insurance Australia soared 3.3 percent while Suncorp Group edged up 0.3 percent. U.S. stocks rebounded from their worst decline since November on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Fed's bond-buying stimulus and sales of new homes hit a 4 1/2-year high. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index climbed 0.8 percent or 35.2 points to 4,274.1. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Macmahon Holdings slumped 5.9 percent to A$0.32. The Australian mining contractor said shareholders had approved the sale of its construction business to Leighton Holdings Ltd. (0035 GMT) * Westfield Group was up 0.5 percent to A$11.14. The Australian shopping mall owner reported 2012 results in line with expectations, and upgraded its outlook for 2013. (0036 GMT) * AGL Energy Ltd soared 4 percent to A$15.80. Australia's second-largest electricity and gas company, posted a 20 percent rise in first-half profit as it hooked more customers and power prices rose. (0036 GMT) (Reporting By Thuy Ong; Editing by Eric Meijer) 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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