Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australian shares post biggest weekly loss in a yr; wary ahead of US jobs

Reuters: Hot Stocks Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Australian shares post biggest weekly loss in a yr; wary ahead of US jobs Jun 7th 2013, 07:09 Fri Jun 7, 2013 3:09am EDT (Adds market performance details, analyst comments) * S&P/ASX 200 index down 43.5 points to near 5-mth low of 4,737.7 * Market cautious ahead of U.S. jobs report as Fed stimulus concerns persist * Banks and miners suffer losses * Newcrest plunges to 8-yr low on writedown SYDNEY, June 7 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 0.9 percent on Friday and posted their biggest weekly loss in a year, as jitters ahead of a key U.S. jobs report dragged the index to a near five-month low. Investors were inclined to reduce exposure before the release of the U.S. non-farm payrolls data later in the day, which could provide clues about the future of the Federal Reserve's stimulus measures, analysts said. Markets are also eyeing a slew of Chinese economic data for May including trade, inflation, urban investment, industrial output and retail sales over the weekend. Investors have been agonizing over the Fed's bond-buying programme since Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested two weeks ago that the massive stimulus could be wound back this year if the economy improves further. The S&P/ASX 200 index lost 43.5 points to 4,737.7, the lowest since Jan. 16. The index ended the week down 3.8 percent, its biggest weekly loss since May 2012. Australian stocks have been hit recently by turbulence in Japanese equities, Fed stimulus jitters, and concerns over slowing demand from top resources consumer China. Major banks all dropped, with no. 1 lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia losing 1.7 percent. Westpac Banking Corp and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group retreated from earlier gains and fell 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. Still, the banks could rebound on bargain-hunting, said Macquarie Private Wealth division director Martin Lakos. "The banks have come off a long way now. Investors are holding a significant high level of cash, they will continue to chase high returns," Lakos said. Global miners BHP Billiton Ltd tumbled 2.0 percent, while Rio Tinto Ltd fell 1.8 percent. Miners have been under pressure due to sluggish demand from China. Shanghai steel futures sagged to a nine-month low on Friday and Chinese mills are limiting their stockpiles of raw material iron ore on expectations that prices may drop further. Newcrest Mining Ltd, the world's No. 3 gold miner, fell 7.6 percent to an eight-year low, after the company said it would write down its asset values by up to $6 billion in response to the worst slide in gold prices in 30 years. Other gold names also took a beating. Medusa Mining Ltd dived 10.6 percent, while Regis Resources Ltd dropped 2.5 percent. On the positive ledger, Australia's biggest phone company Telstra Corp Ltd gained 0.7 percent. Some property stocks also bucked the broad market trend. Australia's second-biggest property group Stockland Corp Ltd rose 0.6 percent, and Mirvac Group added 1.2 percent. "There are a few green lights flashing for the real estate and property sector at the moment," said Longsec economist Michael Heffernan in Melbourne, citing the expectation of further rate cuts. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index slipped 0.3 percent to 4,439.9. (Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang and Michael Sin; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions