Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australian shares post biggest weekly percentage rise since July

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Australian shares post biggest weekly percentage rise since July Apr 12th 2013, 06:49 Fri Apr 12, 2013 2:49am EDT (Adds details, comments) SYDNEY, April 11 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 0.1 percent on Friday to post the biggest weekly gain in nine months as market sentiment was underpinned by a record close on Wall Street. Weakness in miners, however, capped gains. The S&P/ASX 200 index added 6.4 points to finish at 5013.5. On the week it was up 2.5 percent, snapping four consecutive weeks of losses, and marking the biggest gain since July 2012. The Australian market has risen around 8 percent this year, helped by strong corporate earnings and receding global growth worries. "If we continue to see quantitative easing globally, if we continue to see a search for quality assets then potentially our market goes up," said Damien Boey, equity strategist at Credit Suisse. Financials were mostly firmer. National Australia Bank and Australia New Zealand Banking Group both rose 0.1 percent. Analysts said gains on Friday were modest after the strong finish on Wall Street. "The Australian marked posted a fairly uninspiring performance to end the week," said Tim Waterer, senior trader at CMC Markets. "Normally the allure of a record high on the Dow being reached would have the local market buzzing, however given the U.S. has been hitting new highs with each passing day this week the impact may be wearing off." Global miners were weaker. Rio Tinto Ltd lost 2 percent after it suspended its mine operations in Kennecott, Utah, after its copper Bingham canyon mine experienced a slide. Rival BHP Billiton Ltd slid 0.2 percent. Defensive stocks were mostly firmer. Consumer staples Woolworths Ltd and rival Wesfarmers climbed 1.2 percent and 0.3 percent respectively. Telecommunications giant Telstra Ltd inched up 0.2 percent. "The defensive sector looks set to outperform other sectors, either they will go up more than everything else or go down less than everything else," Boey noted. Woodside Petroleum jumped 3.2 percent after the oil miner shelved plans for its $40 billion Browse liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia, saying it will consider a floating LNG plant after deciding the onshore development did not make economic sense. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index finished the session 0.6 percent, or 26.2 points higher at 4,435.8. (Reporting by Thuy Ong, additional reporting by Michael Sin; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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