Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares up 0.2 pct as commodities halt decline, miners rebound

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Australia shares up 0.2 pct as commodities halt decline, miners rebound Apr 19th 2013, 02:03 Tweet Share this Email Print Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:03pm EDT (Adds details, comments, stocks on the move) SYDNEY, April 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 0.2 percent in late morning trade on Friday as mining stocks rebounded on short-covering after the recent selloff in commodities paused, but sentiment remained fragile on concerns over global growth. Global miner BHP Billiton rebounded 2.3 percent while rival Rio Tinto Ltd climbed 3.8 percent. Gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd also advanced 2.3 percent after a sharp decline in recent sessions. "Today it's just a bit of short-covering on those stocks," said City Index market analyst Jonathan Preston. "The miners have really had a tough time on the back of falling commodities." "We'll probably see some bargain hunters coming into the market around this level as well," he added. Gold was little changed in cautious trade on Friday following this week's historic sell-off, and copper ended flat on Thursday. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 9.7 points to 4,934.1 by 0145 GMT. The benchmark fell 1.6 percent on Thursday, its biggest one-day percentage loss in a month. The mood 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. Preston said the market is cautiously optimistic on the back of the recent correction. "Everyone is getting a little bit uncertain," he said, noting investor concerns about the U.S. recovery and China's demand. "But the long perspective is that stocks are affordable." Financials lost ground as investors bought into over-sold miners. Westpac Banking Corp posted the sharpest loss of 1.8 percent among the big four banks, while No. 1 lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia edged 0.2 percent lower. Australia's biggest oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd jumped 2.2 percent, as oil rose and snapped a six-day losing streak. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index shed 0.1 percent to 4,438.1, paring some losses made earlier. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Australia's No.2 energy firm Santos Ltd climbed 2.0 percent to A$11.61, 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. (0127 GMT) * Some gold miners recovered as gold's recent sell-off paused. OZ Minerals Ltd jumped 3.9 percent to A$4.82, and Regis Resources Ltd jumped 4.3 percent to A$3.42. (0144 GMT) * Rare earth producer Lynas Corp Ltd dropped 0.6 percent to A$0.48, after it appointed Eric Noyrez as its CEO and executive director and said the average mount weld "basket price" for rare earth decreased 13 percent. (0130 GMT) (Reporting By Maggie Lu Yueyang; 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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