Australia Stocks: Mirvac, National Australia, RHG, Virgin Blue

By Shani Raja

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 76.20 points, or 1.5 percent, to 5,081.80 at 11:50 a.m. in Sydney, the highest since July 4. The broader All Ordinaries Index gained 70.60, or 1.4 percent, to 5,146.50, while the futures index expiring in September jumped 1.1 percent to 5,072.

Financial stocks: Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ AU), the nation's third-biggest lender, rose 73 cents, or 4 percent, to A$18.80, reversing yesterday's 3.9 percent decline. National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB AU), the country's biggest bank by assets, advanced A$1.24, or 4.5 percent, to A$28.89, the highest since June 6.

Better-than-expected earnings at Wachovia Corp., Bank of America Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc. in the U.S. helped lenders reverse Monday's losses, boosting a measure of financial shares 28 percent above last week's nine-year low. Losses haven't spread as ``much as feared,'' Deutsche Bank analyst Mike Mayo said in a note yesterday.

Oil companies: Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer, slumped A$1.52, or 2.7 percent, to A$55.58, eclipsing yesterday's 1.2 percent gain. Santos Ltd. (STO AU) declined 57 cents, or 3.1 percent, to A$18.02, reversinga 2.1 percent gain.

Crude oil fell more than $3 a barrel, dropping to a six-week low, on forecasts a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico will miss oil installations. Crude oil for August delivery fell $3.09, or 2.4 percent, to settle at $127.95 a barrel at 2:58 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement price since June 5.

Just Group Ltd. (JST AU), the nation's largest owner of clothing stores, added 35 cents, or 12 percent, to A$3.26, the index's third-biggest gainer. Premier Investments Ltd., controlled by Australian billionaire Solomon Lew, may raise its offer for Just Group by 5 percent if it receives 90 percent of the shares, the Melbourne-based company said in a statement today.

Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG AU), Australia's biggest securities firm, jumped A$4.71, or 10 percent, to A$51.30, the most since March 25, after saying it's avoided the troubled assets that caused almost $470 billion of losses and writedowns worldwide.

Mirvac Group Ltd. (MGR AU), an Australian property investor, rose 19 cents, or 8.2 percent, to A$2.50, the benchmark's ninth- biggest gainer. The company's rating was raised to ``buy'' at Merrill Lynch & Co. and to ``outperform'' by Credit Suisse Group AG.

NRW Holdings Ltd. (NWH AU), a civil contractor, advanced 16 cents, or 9.2 percent, to A$1.90, the most since Jan. 25 and the index's sixth-biggest gainer. The company said it received an A$87 million rail earthworks contract with Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., having completed an earlier one worth A$140 million.

RHG Ltd. (RHG AU), an Australian residential home-loan provider, soared 3 cents, or a record 43 percent, to 10 cents. The company said it had a mortgage book of A$11.5 billion and is planning an on-market buyback of up to 10 percent of its issued shares over the next year.

Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. (VBA AU) rose 4 cents, or 6.9 percent, to 69 cents, the 10th-biggest gainer on the benchmark. The company's New Zealand airline unit, Pacific Blue, will introduce baggage fees to help recover rising fuel costs.

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