Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australian shares up, extend strong 2013 gains; Alumina, Downer soar

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Australian shares up, extend strong 2013 gains; Alumina, Downer soar Feb 14th 2013, 01:04 Tweet Share this Email Print Wed Feb 13, 2013 8:04pm EST MELBOURNE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Australian shares built on this year's strong gains on Thursday, as top miners gained ahead of earnings results from Rio Tinto, and as Alumina soared after China's Citic Resources Holdings bought a stake. Rio Tinto added 1.9 percent to A$71.78, its highest in a year, while rival BHP Billiton gained 1.5 percent to A$38.47 -- its best since November 2011 -- ahead of Rio's annual profit result, due after the close of trade. "In the first 30 days of 2013 the Australian sharemarket has lifted almost 7 percent. If the gains were to be replicated over the entire year the index would post gains of around 60 percent," said Craig James, chief economist at broker CommSec. "We shouldn't get too carried away. A period of consolidation will inevitably arrive," he said. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 4.9 points at 5,008.8 at 0041 GMT - the highest mark since April 15 2010, when the index touched an intraday peak of 5,025.1. On Wednesday, the benchmark finished the session at 5,003.7, its best close since the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index was 0.3 percent higher at 4,234.6. Rio is expected to report a 49 percent plunge in second-half profit to $3.93 billion, excluding big writedowns, though that would still leave full-year profit at $9.08 billion. Iron ore is expected to make up close to 90 percent of earnings, with losses expected in aluminium and diamonds.. STOCKS ON THE MOVE: * Engineering firm Downer EDI Ltd rallied 11 percent after it affirmed guidance for an underlying net annual profit of around A$210 million. Earnings rose 24 percent to A$105.5 million in the first half. 0017 GMT * Alumina jumped 12 percent after China's Citic Resources Holdings bought a 15 percent stake in the company for A$452 million ($467.5 million). 0017 GMT * Business services firm SAI Global slumped 15 percent to A$3.79 after it said net profit fell 15 percent in the first half as costs accelerated faster than sales. 0023 GMT * Macmahon Holdings Ltd rose 3 percent after it said it had received a new proposal from Sembawang Australia Pty Ltd to acquire its construction projects. 0017 GMT * Wesfarmers Ltd fell 0.5 percent ahead of its first half earnings results. Analysts expect a net profit of A$1.216 billion, according to the average of three forecasts. 0016 GMT (Reporting by Miranda Maxwell; 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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