Australia Stocks: Allco, Babcock Japan, St. Barbara, Woodside

By Shani Raja

Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 11.70 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,969.40 at 10:25 a.m. in Sydney. The broader All Ordinaries Index declined 15.60, or 0.3 percent, to 5,023.40, while the futures index expiring in September gained 0.3 percent to 4,946.

Gold producers: Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM AU), Australia's largest gold mining company, fell 85 cents, or 3.4 percent, to A$24.20. St. Barbara Ltd. (SBM AU), aiming to become Australia's third-largest gold producer, slumped 2 cents, or 6.7 percent, to 21 cents, the index's biggest loser.

Gold dropped below $800 an ounce in Asian trading amid speculation the U.S. currency will gain, damping demand for a haven against a weakening dollar.

Oil companies: Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer, dropped A$1.18, or 2.1 percent, to A$54.39, the most since Aug. 5. Santos Ltd. (STO AU) declined 36 cents, or 2 percent, to A$17.55.

Crude oil fell on speculation that fuel-consumption declines in the U.S. will spread to other countries as their economies slow. Crude oil for September delivery fell 99 cents, or 0.9 percent, to settle at $115.01 a barrel at 2:52 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Allco Finance Group Ltd. (AFG AU) advanced 2 cents, or 5.4 percent, to 48 cents, the most since the start of the month. The Sydney-based manager of ships, aircraft and wind farms said it expects at least a A$90 million ($79 million) profit on the sale of part of its Singapore real estate unit.

Babcock & Brown Japan Property Trust (BJT AU), an Australian-based real estate investment trust, rose 8 cents, or 11 percent, to 88 cents, the highest since June 23 and the benchmark's biggest gainer. The company said Japanese property market fundamentals remain sound and that the fiscal 2009 distribution will ``not be less'' than in 2008.

Minara Resources Ltd. (MRE AU), Australia's second-largest nickel producer, lost 4 cents, or 2.7 percent, to A$1.28, paring yesterday's 10 percent climb. Nickel fell 2.1 percent on the London Metal Exchange.

QBE Insurance Group Ltd. (QBE AU) slipped 17 cents, or 0.7 percent, to A$23.33, the lowest since Aug. 8. QBE agreed to buy PMI Group Inc.'s Asian and Australian businesses for A$1.03 billion ($896 million), a week after the U.S. mortgage insurer posted a fourth consecutive quarterly loss.

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