Australia Stocks: Aristocrat, National Australia, OneSteel Ltd.

By Shani Raja

July 30 (Bloomberg) -- The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 95.90 points, or 2 percent, to 4,943.30 at 10:20 a.m. in Sydney, set to snap a three-day, 5.8 percent drop.

The broader All Ordinaries Index advanced 85, or 1.7 percent, to 5,008.30, while the futures index expiring in September jumped 2.3 percent to 4,935.

Steel producers: BlueScope Steel Ltd. (BSL AU), Australia's largest steelmaker, rose 47 cents, or 4.4 percent, to A$11.27, the most since July 21. OneSteel Ltd. (OST AU), the second- largest Australian producer of the alloy, gained 21 cents, or 3.2 percent, to A$6.73, the biggest advance since June 6.

U.S. Steel Corp. climbed 14 percent, sending steelmakers to their best gain since 2002 in the U.S., after net income more than doubled on higher prices.

Financial stocks: National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB AU), the nation's largest by assets, climbed A$1.02, or 4.1 percent, to A$25.80, following a three-day, 19 percent slump. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA AU) advanced A$1.37, or 3.5 percent, to A$40.70, the most since July 24.

U.S. financial shares rose for the first time in four days yesterday, led by Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., as Merrill Lynch & Co.'s plans to sell $8.5 billion of stock and liquidate $30.6 billion of bonds bolstered speculation that Wall Street is overcoming failed subprime bets.

Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. (ALL AU) tumbled 98 cents, or 16 percent, to A$5.10, the most since 2003 and the benchmark's biggest loser. The world's second-largest maker of slot machines cut its earnings forecast on deteriorating economic conditions in Australia and the U.S.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG AU) gained 25 cents, or 3.1 percent, to A$8.20, the most since July 21. The company, controlled by Australia's richest man Andrew Forrest, said it shipped $310 million worth of iron ore to China in the past 11 weeks.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer, declined 56 cents, or 1.1 percent, to A$51.21. Crude oil fell to the lowest in 12 weeks in New York as the U.S. dollar strengthened to a one-month high against the euro and on signs gasoline demand may extend declines.

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