Australia Stocks: Babcock Wind, Coeur, Equinox, Rio, Woodside

By Shani Raja

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 29.60 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,904.80 at 10:20 a.m. in Sydney. The broader All Ordinaries Index climbed 34.10 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4,983.70, while the futures index expiring in September advanced 0.7 percent to 4,879.

Mining shares: BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP AU), the world's largest mining company, gained A$1.01, or 2.6 percent, to A$39.96, the highest since July 11. Rio Tinto Group (RIO AU), the third largest, rose A$4.16, or 3.5 percent, to A$123.06, the highest since July 31.

Equinox Minerals Ltd. (EQN AU), the developer of Africa's largest copper mine, soared 41 cents, or 11 percent, to A$4.09, the index's biggest gainer. Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM AU), Australia's biggest gold producer, advanced A$1, or 3.9 percent, to A$27, the highest since Aug. 4. Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. (CXC AU), a silver producer, jumped 19 cents, or 9.4 percent, to A$2.21, a record gain.

A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange rose 4.9 percent. Zinc advanced 7.4 percent, copper 4.5 percent and nickel 7.9 percent.

Meanwhile, gold jumped the most in almost two months and silver had its biggest gain since 2006 as rising energy costs and a decline in the value of the dollar boosted the appeal of precious metals as hedges against inflation.

Oil companies: Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer, advanced A$1.75, or 3.2 percent, to A$56.90, the highest since July 22. Santos Ltd. (STO AU) rose 68 cents, or 3.7 percent, to A$18.86, extending yesterday's 5.7 percent gain.

Crude oil for October delivery rose $5.62, or 4.9 percent, to settle at $121.18 a barrel at 2:47 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest increase since June 6.

Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd. (AWE AU), operator of the $269 million Tui oil project in New Zealand, climbed 38 cents, or 12 percent, to A$3.49, the most since December 2001. The company said full-year profit jumped more than sevenfold on returns from the venture.

Babcock & Brown Ltd. (BNB AU) slumped for a second day, losing 8 cents, or 3.6 percent, to A$2.14, a record low. The appointment of a new chief executive officer yesterday failed to convince investors the company can be saved as it sells assets at a loss to reduce debt.

Babcock & Brown Wind Partners (BBW AU) declined 4 cents, or 3.5 percent, to a record low A$1.11. Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA, Spain's third-biggest builder, agreed to pay 190 million euros ($283 million) for the company's wind energy assets in the country.

Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG AU), Australia's largest developer of toll roads, plunged 20 cents, or 8 percent, to A$2.29, the most since June 19. The company's rating was cut to ``sell' at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., after yesterday reporting net profit for the year to June 30 fell to A$767.3 million from A$1.7 billion.

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