Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares end up 0.2 pct, but suffer biggest weekly loss in nearly a month

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Australia shares end up 0.2 pct, but suffer biggest weekly loss in nearly a month Apr 19th 2013, 06:58 Fri Apr 19, 2013 2:58am EDT (Adds details, comments) SYDNEY, April 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended 0.2 percent higher on Friday, as mining stocks rebounded after the recent sell-off in commodities eased, but the market still suffered its biggest weekly loss in almost a month as global growth concerns weighed on sentiment. Global miner BHP Billiton advanced 2.5 percent while rival Rio Tinto Ltd climbed 4.3 percent. The country's No. 3 iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd surged 9.3 percent. "We think the big miners are undervalued at the moment and have been for some time, just based on our forecast for their cashflows in future," said Mark Taylor, senior resources analyst at Morningstar in Sydney. "The market obviously focused on more short-term stuff such as weakening iron ore prices or gold prices," he added. The S&P/ASX 200 index added 7.5 points to 4,931.9, according to the latest data. The resources-heavy index posted a 1.6 percent loss for the week, marking the biggest weekly loss since March 22. The market's downturn this week comes amid increasing concerns about the health of the global economy. Analysts said investor sentiment remained cautious after a recent run of soft data from the United States and China, Australia's biggest export market, triggered a selloff in global stocks and commodities. "Everyone is getting a little bit uncertain," said Jonathan Preston, a market analyst at City Index in Sydney, noting investor concerns about the U.S. recovery and China's demand. "But the long perspective is that stocks are affordable." "The miners have really had a tough time on the back of falling commodities. Today it's just a bit of short-covering on those stocks," Preston said. London copper dropped below $7,000 for a second day on Friday, on track for its biggest weekly decline since 2011, while gold ticked higher in cautious trade after the week's brutal sell-off, heading for a fourth week of losses. Gold miners enjoyed significant rebounds as gold's recent sell-off paused. Newcrest Mining Ltd surged 9.9 percent, while Medusa Mining Ltd soared 15.6 percent, making it No.2 percentage gainer in the index. Perseus Mining jumped 11.5 percent, after the gold miner said it expected to start building the $160 million Sissingue gold mine in Cote d'Ivoire in the middle of this year despite the recent slide in gold prices. Financials lost some ground as investors bought into over-sold miners. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group posted the sharpest loss of almost 2.0 percent among the big four banks, while No. 1 lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia ended 0.3 percent lower. "You can't run the marathon like it's a 100-meter sprinter all the time. That's what Telstra and banks have been doing," said broker Lonsec's senior client advisor Michael Heffernan, referring to the recent run of strong gains in defensive stocks. Australia's biggest oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd was 0.7 percent higher, as oil rose and snapped a six-day losing streak. The country's No.2 energy firm Santos Ltd climbed 2.4 percent, as it maintained production guidance of between 53 and 57 million barrels of oil equivalent for 2013 despite the fact that its Q1 production dipped 2 percent. Drilling company Boart Longyear pushed 9.7 percent higher, after its biggest owner, Canada's Beutel Goodman, and another holder Macquarie Group Ltd, increased their stake in the company. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index shed 0.1 percent to 4,444.5, paring some losses made earlier. (Reporting By Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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