Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Australia stocks rock higher on miners

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- A soft lead from Wall Street and uncertainty ahead of Australian retail sales data (and U.S. jobs data) aren't slowing the Sydney market, where the S&P/ASX 200 stock benchmark is up 0.5% early Thursday, mainly on a gains for commodities. With copper at a fourth-month high and Chinese spot iron-ore prices moving further off their recent lows, Australia's heavily weighted mining stocks are trading broadly higher: BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP) (BHP) is up 0.7%, Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO) (RIO) is up 0.5%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) is up 2.5%, Mount Gibson Iron Ltd. (AU:MGX) is up 3.7%, Oz Minerals Ltd. (AU:OZL) (OZMLF) is up 1.7%, and Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) is up 1.8%. Casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd. (CWLDF) is up 1.2% as Bell Potter reiterates its buy call on the shares, even as it cuts its target price, according to Dow Jones Newswires. On the downside, David Jones Ltd. (AU:DJS) (DVDJF) is down 0.5% as Australian media reports say the nation's regulators failed to get permission to open an investigation into the retailer's proposed takeover by Woolworths of South Africa.

No comments:

Post a Comment