Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares step back from 5-yr high, ANZ jumps on record profit

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Australia shares step back from 5-yr high, ANZ jumps on record profit Oct 29th 2013, 01:18 Tweet Share this Email Print Reprints Related Topics Basic Materials » Cyclical Consumer Goods » Energy » Non-Cyclical Consumer Goods » Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:18pm EDT SYDNEY, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 0.4 on Tuesday morning, stepping back from five-year highs as buying momentum paused ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting this week. The pullback was somewhat contained by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group leading a positive opening earnings salvo from the banking sector. The S&P/ASX 200 index lost 20.6 points to 5,420.3 by 0038 GMT. The benchmark jumped 1 percent on Monday to touch a five-year high at 5,457.3. "There was very little lead from overnight, I wouldn't be surprised that it's profit taking generally," said Martin Lakos, division director at Macquarie Private Wealth. "We don't see anything on the horizon that's really going to see markets pull back dramatically here," he added. Shares in ANZ, Australia's third largest bank by market value, rallied 2.2 percent to a record high of A$33.97 after it reported an 11 percent climb in full-year cash earnings. It marked the fourth straight year of record profits for ANZ as it benefited from revenue growth, cost cutting and a drop in bad loans. Westpac Banking Corp added 0.7 percent to hover at record highs of A$34.82 while National Australia Bank Ltd also gained 0.7 percent, touching six-year highs. The two are due to report their full year earnings in the coming weeks. Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 0.9 percent after hitting another record high in the previous session. The broader market was weighed down by global miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd. The stocks fell 1.1 percent and 1.9 percent respectively after China's iron ore futures dropped for a sixth straight session overnight to settle at 4-month lows. Some top tier defensives also took a breather from their recent strong run. Blood products maker CSL Ltd lost 1.1 percent while Wesfarmers Ltd fell 0.6 percent. Analysts said investors will wait for the Federal Reserve's commentary after its meeting ends on Wednesday, where it is widely expected to maintain its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying stimulus. Most predict the central bank to delay any stimulus tapering to at least March next year. "Markets will likely take a wait-and-see-approach over the next couple of days," said Tracey Warren, stockbroking business development manager at CMC Markets in a note. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index was down 1.9 points at 4,861.4. (Reporting By Maggie Lu Yueyang and Thuy Ong; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) Non-Cyclical Consumer Goods Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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