Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australian shares edge up ahead of Fed; Whitehaven surges

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Australian shares edge up ahead of Fed; Whitehaven surges Jun 19th 2013, 02:03 Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:03pm EDT (Updates with movements in late morning trade, analyst comments) SYDNEY, June 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 0.5 percent in late morning trade on Wednesday, after a second straight day of gains on Wall Street, but trading was subdued as investors remained cautious ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve monetary meeting. The Fed meeting started on Tuesday, and traders are trying to guess its timeline for scaling back bond purchases of $85 billion per month. A policy statement from the central bank will be released at 1800 gmt on Wednesday, followed by a news conference with Chairman Ben Bernanke. "If Bernanke turns dovish, it will certainly be a good signal for the market, but before this investors are reluctant to jump into the market," said Biyi Cheng, head of dealing APAC at City Index in Sydney. The S&P/ASX 200 index added 26.0 points to 4,840.3 by 0137 GMT. The benchmark slipped 0.2 percent on Tuesday. The Australian index has suffered a sharp selloff in tandem with a rout in global markets in recent sessions, driven by uncertainty over the Fed's stimulus measures, volatility in Japanese equities, and slowing growth in China. Australia's big four banks mostly traded lower. Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia dropped 0.5 percent, and National Australia Bank was nearly flat. Global miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd bounced back, climbing 1.3 percent and 1.7 percent respectively. A weaker Australian dollar also benefited stocks with overseas exposure including insurance company QBE Insurance Group Ltd, which jumped 2.7 percent. Treasury Wine Estates climbed 2.4 percent. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index dropped 0.4 percent to 4,444.0. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Whitehaven Coal Ltd rose as much as 9 percent and last traded 4.0 percent higher at A$2.20, after the company's major shareholder, embattled tycoon Nathan Tinkler, offloaded about half his stake to cut his debts. (0132 GMT) * News Corp tumbled 9.4 percent to a two-month low of A$29.72 in the ASX trading, as the new News Corp shares were expected to begin trading on the NASDAQ on Wednesday prior to the company's demerger. "The stock focus is News Corp, which is having the spin-out of the new News Corp, starting at midday. You can already see an implied price on it for Fox and other News Corp," said Arnhem Investment management dealer Simon Twiss. (0136 GMT) * Crown Ltd climbed 1.3 percent to A$12.55, after Sri Lanka's investment promotion minister said the government was in the final stage of reaching a $350 million hotel and leisure resort deal with the casino operator. (0147 GMT) * Echo Entertainment Group jumped 2.6 percent to a 3-1/2 week high of A$3.12, after Malaysian gambling giant Genting Bhd increased its stake in the company, just weeks after rival casino company Crown Ltd sold its 10 percent stake in Echo. (0148 GMT) * New Zealand's dominant television operator Sky Network Television Ltd dropped 4.8 percent after it confirmed it had failed a bid for English Premier League rights. (0152 GMT) (Reporting By Maggie Lu Yueyang; Additional reporting by Michael Sin; Editing by Eric Meijer) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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