Australia Shares End Higher, Lifted by Resources Stocks
March 01 2016 - 1:23AM
Dow Jones News
By Robb M. Stewart
MELBOURNE, Australia--Overnight gains in commodity prices helped
buoy Australian resources stocks and the broader market
Tuesday.
In another day of choppy trading, the S&P/ASX 200 finished
41.4 points, or 0.9%, higher at 4922.3. It was the first
substantial move in the index in the last four sessions.
The push higher was led by gains in energy and mining stocks,
with additional support from banks, which are heavily weighted.
Oil prices advanced Monday on signs that U.S. drilling activity
is hitting new lows, while copper prices shook off losses and
turned positive in the last half hour of the day's trading session.
Gold rose to its highest level in nearly three weeks in Asia
trading Tuesday, boosted by weak U.S. economic data and news that
China cut reserve-requirement ratios for banks.
After declining the past four sessions after reporting a
first-half loss and sharply reduced dividend, BHP Billiton
recovered with a jump of 3%. Rio Tinto rose 2.7%, while fellow
iron-ore producer Fortescue Metals Group gained 6.4%. Newcrest
Mining was 4.5% higher.
Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search each
added 1.8% and Santos and Oil Search each climbed 3.6%.
The big four banks were all higher for the day, led by a 3%
increase in Australia & New Zealand Banking Group. Westpac
added 2.5%, National Australia Bank was 2% higher and Commonwealth
Bank of Australia was up 1.8%. All four have seen heavy selling for
much of 2016.
"The compelling yields on offer in Aussie banks look to have
finally brought buyers back to the markets, and ANZ was gaining the
most on their compelling historically low valuation," Angus
Nicholson, a market analyst at IG in Melbourne, said.
For the day, 2.8 billion shares were traded worth 6.4 billion
Australian dollars (US$4.57 billion), Commonwealth Securities
said.
The market largely brushed aside the Reserve Bank of Australia's
decision to leave its key cash rate unchanged at a 2% for a ninth
consecutive policy meeting, even as it left the door open to
cutting further if the economy slows later in the year. The
government's statistics office is scheduled to release
fourth-quarter economic growth data on Wednesday.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 01, 2016 01:08 ET (06:08 GMT)
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