Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares rise on Wall St, miners firmer

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Australia shares rise on Wall St, miners firmer May 31st 2013, 01:42 Thu May 30, 2013 9:42pm EDT (Adds details, comments, stocks on the move) SYDNEY May 31 (Reuters) - Australian shares advanced 0.4 percent on Friday away from six-week lows, after U.S. economic data eased worries the Federal Reserve would start to taper its monetary stimulus this year, while firmer copper prices underpinned miners. BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd jumped 1.7 percent and 3.3 percent respectively on a 1 percent rise in copper prices. "We're seeing good rallies in iron ore stocks despite headlines pointing out potential difficulties in the sector," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets. The S&P/ASX 200 index added 18.8 points to 4,949.5 by 0125 GMT. The benchmark fell 0.9 percent to a six-week low on Thursday, and is down 5 percent for May. The local market has come under selling pressure recently on a combination of factors, including the Fed stimulus worries and slowing growth in China, Australia's major export market. Banks were mixed. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia edged 0.1 percent higher while Australia's fourth largest bank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group rose 0.4 percent but Westpac Banking Corp fell 0.8 percent after going ex-dividend. Defensives were weaker. Telstra Ltd plumbed 1.1 percent to six week lows of A$4.71. "There is no doubt the Telstra yield story is unwinding," Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG, said in a note. "Telstra has dropped 38 cents since May 22 - that's 7.4 percent." Food retailer Woolworths lost 0.9 percent while QBE Insurance Ltd slipped 0.4 percent. Blood products maker CSL Ltd lost 0.8 percent. "We saw confirmation in the US that the private sector is expanding at an accelerating pace, which is contributing to a better global growth outlook and global miners," CMC's McCarthy said. U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, rebounding from the previous session's losses, as tepid economic data eased concerns the U.S. Federal Reserve would begin to gradually scale back its policy of stimulating growth. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index climbed 0.9 percent or 38.6 points to 4,509, in an almost uninterrupted rally since June 2012. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Sundance Resources Ltd rallied 4.7 percent to A$0.09 after saying it will conclude discussions with potential partners on its $4.7 billion Africa iron ore project by June and announce a chosen partner three months later, the firm's chief operations officer told Reuters. (0125 GMT) * Western Areas Ltd soared 4.8 percent to A$3.06 after upgrading its full year guidance. (0126 GMT) * Guildford Coal Ltd slumped 10.5 percent to three week lows of A$0.17 after advising that production activities at their South-Gobi open cut coking coal mine in Mongolia has commenced with contractor Grand Power starting overburden removal. The coal explorer also announced the appointment of Michael Wotherspoon to Chief Financial Officer. (0127 GMT) * Elemental Minerals Ltd dived 13.8 percent to A$0.375. The company and Dingyi Group Investment Ltd have mutually agreed to extend an exclusivity period to 30 June 2013 to finalise oustanding due diligence matters. (0127 GMT) (Reporting by Thuy Ong, additional reporting by Michael Sin; Editing by Eric Meijer) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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