Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares fall on Europe worries, U.S. market tumble

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 fall on Europe worries, U.S. market tumble Feb 26th 2013, 05:46 Tweet Share this Email Print Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:46am EST (Adds details, comments) SYDNEY, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 1 percent on Tuesday on renewed fears of euro zone instability as Italy faces a political deadlock and after Wall Street suffered its biggest fall since November. The financials dragged on the index, with Australia New Zealand Banking Group posting the biggest loss of 1.1 percent. International iron ore miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd plumbed 1.5 percent and 0.9 percent respectively. The S&P/ASX 200 index finished the day 52.2 points lower at 5,003.6, trimming losses from the morning. At one point, the index was down 1.5 percent, but the pullback spawned "swift bidding support", Ben Taylor, sales trader at CMC Markets, said "Low interest rates continue to see the cash pour in," he said. After U.S. stocks fell sharply on Monday, investors will be closely watching Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday to seek further clues on American monetary policy. Italy faced political deadlock on Tuesday after a huge protest vote enraged by economic hardship and political corruption left no group with a clear majority in parliament. "The Italian voter has spoken out and this has thrown up political instability as perhaps the number one issue facing Europe in 2013," said Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne. "Conservative traders will probably hold off and see how traders act tonight in Europe and the U.S.," he said. On Tuesday, Australian food retailers finished the day weaker with Coles-owner Wesfarmers dropping 1.2 percent while rival Woolworths Ltd plummeted 2.2 percent. Gold miners underpinned the market, Newcrest Mining climbed 1.9 percent while rival gold producer Medusa Mining soared 3.5 percent. The bullion rose about 1 percent on Monday, extending to a third day of rallies, as a sharp pullback in U.S. equities and uncertainty over the outcome of Italy's election led to resurgent safe-haven buying. QBE Insurance, Australia's biggest insurer, fell 2.2 percent after posting a lower-than-expected 8 percent rise in net profit to $761 million due to high claims for accidents an adverse U.S. weather. Whitehaven Coal lost 3 percent after reporting a first-half loss on Tuesday, whacked by weak coal prices and a strong Australian dollar. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index closed the session 0.3 percent or 12.5 points higher to 4,238.9. (Reporting by Thuy Ong; Editing by Richard Borsuk) 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