Australia Stocks: ABC Learning, Australand, Rio Tinto, Portman

By Shani Raja

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- The S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 72.60 points, or 1.5 percent, to 5,009.30 at 10:25 a.m. in Sydney, headed for a 3.9 percent monthly decline. The broader All Ordinaries Index climbed 72, or 1.4 percent, to 5,080.70, while the futures index expiring in September gained 1.9 percent to 4,990.

Mining shares: BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP AU), the world's largest mining company, rose A$1.01, or 2.6 percent, to A$40.27, the highest since July 11. Rio Tinto Group (RIO AU), the third largest, jumped A$3.46, or 2.9 percent, to A$124.96, the highest in almost three weeks.

A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange advanced 0.8 percent. Copper rose 1.3 percent and nickel 3.9 percent.

Oil companies: Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer, advanced A$1.88, or 3.6 percent, to A$53.65, the most since July 11. Santos Ltd. (STO AU) rose 78 cents, or 4.4 percent, to A$18.60, the most in more than two months.

Crude oil rose more than $4 a barrel, the biggest gain since July 10, after the U.S. Energy Department reported the first decline in gasoline inventories in five weeks. Crude for September delivery rose 3.8 percent, to settle at $126.77 a barrel at 2:54 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since July 22, leading U.S. energy shares to their biggest gain in six years.

ABC Learning Centres Ltd. (ABS AU), the world's biggest publicly traded owner of child-care centers, slipped 7 cents, or 9.1 percent, to 75 cents, the second-biggest loser on the benchmark index. The company said it made a pretax full-year loss of A$437 million ($412 million) after writing down the value of some assets.

Australand Property Group (ALZ AU), Australia's fourth- biggest residential developer, tumbled 25 cents, or a record 26 percent, to a record low 72 cents, after net income fell 79 percent and the company sold new shares to pay down debt.

CSR Ltd. (CSR AU), Australia's second-biggest producer of ethanol, rose 2 cents, or 1 percent, to A$2.07, the highest since July 21, after saying it has the potential for a ``significant'' expansion of renewable energy generation to tap expected increases in prices.

Felix Resources Ltd. (FLX AU) climbed 40 cents, or 2 percent, to A$20.62, the highest in more than a month. The best performer on Australia's benchmark index this year said full-year earnings rose fivefold because of record prices for the fuel.

Portman Ltd. (PMM AU), Australia's third-largest iron-ore mining company, advanced 24 cents, or 1.3 percent, to a record high A$18.19, after saying profit in the second quarter rose more than fourfold to a record because of higher prices for the steelmaking raw material.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net.