Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares rise after China rate reform, Japan election

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Australia shares rise after China rate reform, Japan election Jul 22nd 2013, 02:01 Sun Jul 21, 2013 10:01pm EDT (Adds analysis, quotes, stocks on the move) SYDNEY, July 22 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 0.9 percent to two-month highs on Monday, driven by financial stocks as sentiment was buoyed by China's interest rate reform, a government election win in Japan and confidence that U.S. stimulus would be unwound carefully. Westpac Banking Corp rallied 1.5 percent and top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia climbed 1.2 percent. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group rose 0.9 percent. China's central bank on Friday removed controls on bank lending rates in a long-awaited move that could lower costs for companies, offering hopes that cheaper credit would support the softening economy. China is Australia's main trading partner. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was given a solid platform to implement difficult economic reforms after his coalition's decisive win in Sunday's upper house election. "Longer-term investors will take heart from the improved potential for structural reform in Japan and from China's abolition of minimum bank lending rates," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in a note. The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 46.1 points to 5,018.2 by 0127 GMT, after earlier hitting a two-month high of 5,026.7 points. The benchmark fell 0.4 percent on Friday. The market has recovered from a June 25 trough of 4,632.3 as initial worries about how quickly the U.S. Federal Reserve would taper its quantitative easing have been reassessed. "I think there's just a fair amount of momentum building up after Friday's sell-off," said Juliana Roadley, market analyst at Commonwealth Securities. Elsewhere, flagship telecommunications provider Telstra Corporation Ltd rose 0.9 percent and grocer Wesfarmers Ltd jumped 1.4 percent. Miners posted modest gains after copper remained steady and gold posted a second weekly gain. Global iron ore miner BHP Billiton Ltd edged 0.3 percent higher. Gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd jumped 5.7 percent while Regis Resources Ltd surged 5.8 percent. In the U.S., the Dow and NASDAQ indices fell on Friday on disappointing results from Microsoft and Google, although the S&P 500 index edged up to end at a second straight record high. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.2 percent or 7.3 points to 4,546. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Billabong International Ltd rose 4.3 percent to A$0.42. Australia's takeover regulator denied a request from Oaktree Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners to delay a $359 million refinancing deal on anti-trust concerns. (0124 GMT) * Dart Energy Ltd rocketed 17.4 percent to a 4-month high of A$0.135 after saying its restructuring has been completed, with substantial cost reductions and a new strategy focussed on the UK. (0125 GMT) * Gold One International Ltd surged 25 percent to a 5-week high of A$0.15 after it issued a notice of change of interests of a substantial holder. (0125 GMT) (Reporting by Thuy Ong; Editing by John Mair) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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