Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australian shares fall on worries about U.S. labour market

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Australian shares fall on worries about U.S. labour market Apr 5th 2013, 01:24 Thu Apr 4, 2013 9:24pm EDT (Adds details, comments, stocks on the move) SYDNEY, April 5 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 0.6 percent on Friday after an unexpected jump in U.S. weekly jobless claims stoked worries about key U.S. employment data due later in day. The declines came after early modest gains made on the back of aggressive new stimulus policies from the Bank of Japan. "Given that the US jobless claims data under whelmed, there is concern the non-farm payrolls will follow suit, and add to the recent run of bearish signals," William Leys, a sales trader at CMC Markets said in a report. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 27.8 points, to 4,886.1 by 0035 GMT. The last time the index traded below 4,900 points was on February 6. The benchmark dropped 0.9 percent on Thursday. The market has rallied some 8.2 percent since November last year, a result of receding global economic worries, a strong earnings season and stimlus programs from central banks around the world. "People are also getting a bit nervous about the fact that some of these domestic stories have become a bit stretched, valuation wise," said Damien Boey, an equity strategist at Credit Suisse. "Now we're getting to the point where the stimulus has all been delivered but the question is has it already been priced in - is it as good as it gets? I think the market is coming to the realisation that this is as good as it gets." Financials fell, with top lender the Commonwealth Bank of Australia losing 1.3 percent. Economic growth in China, the world's top buyer of iron ore, is expected to slow to a rate of around 7 percent a year for the rest of the decade, but its demand for resources will continue to fuel growth in Western Australia, the premier of the resource-rich state said in an interview. Global iron ore miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd both climbed 0.9 percent. Rio Tinto has hired investment bank Macquarie to sell its majority stake in the Northparkes copper mine in Australia, a source familiar with the matter said, adding to a growing list of planned divestments. Gold miners were firmer, with Newcrest Mining Ltd and Regis Resources Ltd adding 1.6 percent and 2.6 percent. Defensives also fell, supermarket operators Woolworths Ltd and rival Coles-owner Wesfarmers Ltd dropped 1.6 percent and 1.1 percent respectively. Blood products maker CSL Ltd lost 1.7 percent and top telecommunciations provider Telstra Ltd slipped 0.3 percent. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.4 percent, or 16.6 points, to 4,413.6. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Shares in Mongolian Resources Ltd were in a trading halt ahead of the release of an annoucnement from the company concerning a potential acquisition. (0035 GMT) * Shares in Terramin Australia Ltd were also in a trading halt pending the release of an announcement regarding exploration results. (0035 GMT) (Reporting by Thuy Ong; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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