Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares down 0.7 pct, gold miners firmer

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Australia shares down 0.7 pct, gold miners firmer May 21st 2013, 01:33 Mon May 20, 2013 9:33pm EDT (Adds details, comments, stocks on the move) SYDNEY, May 21 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 0.7 percent in late morning trade on Tuesday, with investors taking profits following the market's run-up to 5-1/2-year highs and ahead of the central bank's May meeting minutes. Banks lost ground from recent rallies, weighing on the benchmark index. Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia lost 1.3 percent, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, the smallest of the "big four", fell 1.8 percent. Top miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd declined 0.6 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 34.2 points to 5,174.8 by 0116 GMT. The benchmark rose 0.5 percent on Monday. The Australian market retreated on the back of Wall Street's flat ending, which was not surprising at all, said Damien Boey, an equity strategist at Credit Suisse in Sydney. "The great sensitivity still seems to be around any rumours or any news to do with what the Fed is going to do," Boey said. "They (investors) are looking at the possibility of quantitative easing coming to an end." Charles Evans, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said on Monday the U.S. Federal Reserve could keep up its current level of bond-buying stimulus, but could end it abruptly in the autumn if by then it was sure that the labour market was on a solid footing. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will publish minutes of its May meeting later on Tuesday, which ended with an unexpected rate cut to bring cash rates to the historical low of 2.75 percent. "Today's RBA minutes are going to be quite critical. People want to see that the RBA is willing to cut," Boey said, noting that investor sentiment was still negative. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.2 percent to 4,590.0. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Fleetwood Corp Ltd dropped 17.2 percent to A$6.25, after the caravan maker said late on Monday that it anticipated that second half earnings would be marginally below those reported for the first half. (0123 GMT) * Mining services company Transfield Services Ltd dived 21.6 percent to an all-time low of A$1.00, after it cut its earnings guidance, blaming a slowdown in the mining sector. (0113 GMT) * Miner Arrium Ltd dropped 2.8 percent to A$0.88, after it said its 2013 sales were estimated to be consistent with previous guidance. (0112 GMT) * Gold miners, which had been hit hard recently, bounced back as bullion prices gained nearly 3 percent after a roller-coaster session. Newcrest Mining Ltd, Australia's biggest listed gold miner, jumped 5.6 percent to A$15.37. (0115 GMT) (Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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