Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares down 1.5 pct on profit-taking; caution ahead of data

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Australia shares down 1.5 pct on profit-taking; caution ahead of data Mar 4th 2013, 05:19 Tweet Share this Email Print Related Topics Basic Materials » Cyclical Consumer Goods » Mon Mar 4, 2013 12:19am EST (Updates to close) SYDNEY, March 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 1.5 percent on Monday as lower metal prices and caution ahead of domestic economic data due later this week prompted profit-taking after strong rallies in riskier assets early this year. The Reserve Bank of Australia will make a rate decision on Tuesday, while fourth-quarter GDP data will be released on Wednesday and January trade data is out on Thursday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index lost 75.6 points to 5,010.5, according to the latest data. Adding to the selling pressire, some blue chip stocks such as global miner BHP Billiton went ex-dividend. The Australian market has gained around 8 percent so far this year and hit a 4-1/2 year high last Thursday before pulling back on fresh concerns over sluggish growth in China and the impact of budget spending cuts in the United States. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 1.5 percent to 4,253.6. (Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Kim Coghill) 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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