Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares fall to fresh 5-1/2-mth low, local jobs data eyed

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Australia shares fall to fresh 5-1/2-mth low, local jobs data eyed Jun 13th 2013, 01:27 Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:27pm EDT (Adds market performance details, analyst comments, stocks on the move) SYDNEY, June 13 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 0.9 percent in late morning trade on Thursday to hit a 5-1/2-month low as persistent concerns about central banks rolling back stimulus continued to take a toll on global equities. Investors were also awaiting Australia's May labour force report due at 0130 GMT. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the economy to have shed 10,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to edge up to 5.6 percent from 5.5 percent. "Leading into the jobs numbers coming out later this morning, I'd expect if we see better print we could probably see some buying support emerge across the entire market," said Rivkin Securities global analyst Tim Radford in Sydney. The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 43.1 points to 4,681.4 by 0114 GMT, its lowest level since January 2. The benchmark fell 0.7 percent on Wednesday. "The selloff is over-extended, and they (investors) will wait for the opportunity to take advantage of this selloff," Radford said. Top miners weighed on the market, as BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd dropped 2.2 percent and 1.6 percent respectively. Banks had a better run on the yield play, except for top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia which slipped 0.4 percent. Westpac Banking Corp jumped 0.8 percent after it bought back $3.75 billion in government-guaranteed debt. Defensives were trading lower. Dominant telco company Telstra Corp Ltd declined 0.3 percent, and blood products maker CSL Ltd dropped 0.5 percent. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.6 percent to 4,417.8. New Zealand's central bank held interest rates at a record low 2.5 percent on Thursday as widely expected, and reaffirmed its pledge to keep rates unchanged through the end of the year. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Rare earth miner Lynas Corp Ltd tumbled 6.1 percent to A$0.47, after the company said it would develop a "minimum price schedule" as a response to current spot prices which were below sustainable levels for the producer. (0107 GMT) * Leighton Holdings Ltd dropped 2.6 percent to A$15.59, despite the fact that its John Holland unit had been appointed head contractor for the A$180 million project of the University of Sydney business school. (0108 GMT) * Suncorp Group Ltd dropped 1.5 percent to A$11.68, after it said it had sold a A$1.6 billion non-performing loan portfolio to Goldman Sachs. (0108 GMT) * Toll road operator Macquarie Atlas Roads jumped 4.2 percent to A$1.90, after it said the refinancing process for the M6 toll loan facilities was currently being undertaken by Macquarie Motorways Group. (0109 GMT) (Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Eric Meijer) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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