Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australian shares inch up, banks and miners support

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Australian shares inch up, banks and miners support May 17th 2013, 02:16 Thu May 16, 2013 10:16pm EDT (Adds details, comments, stocks on the move) By Michael Sin SYDNEY May 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares inched up 0.2 percent in midday trade on Friday, as the market drew support from the Australian dollar pushing further below parity, while gains in banks and big-cap miners underpinned the benchmark index. The S&P/ASX 200 index added 11.1 points to 5,174.7 by 0215 GMT. The index fell 0.5 percent on Thursday. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was up 1.4 percent, and top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia added 1 percent, nearing its all-time high. The banking sector stocks have surged in recent weeks on strong buying led by attractive dividend yields and robust earnings. "Financials are certainly outperforming," said Savanth Sebastian, economist at Commonwealth Securities. "I think the low interest rates are still driving consumption, it's the big driver." The Australian dollar pushed further below parity, trading at $0.9758 against the U.S. dollar, boosting material firms James Hardie Industries Ltd 1.5 percent and Boral Ltd 0.3 percent. Global miners BHP Billiton Ltd jumped 1.7 percent while rival Rio Tinto Ltd inched up 0.4 percent. The miners have struggled recently on broad falls in commodities prices, with investors concerned about slowing demand from top consumer China. Investor worries were also raised after China's vice premier said the top iron ore consumer must "strictly prohibit" the further expansion of steel and aluminium. Gold miners extended their losses after the bullion dropped to a four-week low on Thursday as renewed liquidation in gold-exchange traded funds weighed on investor sentiment. Newcrest Mining Ltd declined 2.5 percent, while Regis Resources Ltd shed 3.2 percent. Wesfarmers Ltd, the Coles supermarket owner, dropped 3.1 percent after it said that current fiscal year earnings will be disappointing and be lower than the previous year. Rival Woolworths Ltd dropped 0.9 percent. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.6 percent, dropping 26 points to 4,610. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * WorleyParsons Ltd plummeted 14.1 percent after the firm cut its profit guidance to $320 to 340 million for FY 2013, saying its business in Western Australia has been impacted by the soft demand for resource infrastructure. (0139 GMT) (Reporting by Michael Sin; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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