Australia Stocks: Babcock & Brown, Newcrest, Platinum, Suncorp

By Shani Raja

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell for the third straight session, dropping 73.20 points, or 1.6 percent, to 4,622.20 at 10:25 a.m. in Sydney. The broader All Ordinaries Index lost 73.70 points, or 1.6 percent, to 4,629.10, while the futures index expiring in December declined 1.9 percent to 4,663.

Financial stocks: National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB AU), the nation's largest lender, fell 83 cents, or 3.2 percent, to A$25.32, the most since Sept. 30. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ AU) dropped 33 cents, or 1.8 percent, to A$18.38, the lowest in almost two weeks. Babcock & Brown Ltd. (BNB AU), a manager of infrastructure assets, slipped 7 cents, or 3.8 percent, to A$1.77, among the 10 biggest losers on the benchmark index.

U.S. stocks declined the most last week since the September 2001 terrorist attacks, as concern that tightening credit markets will prolong an economic slowdown overshadowed the passage of a $700 billion financial-market rescue package.

Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM AU), Australia's largest gold producer, declined 89 cents, or 3.2 percent, to A$26.70, the lowest since Sept. 24. Gold futures for December delivery fell 1.3 percent to $833.20 an ounce in New York. The metal was down 6.2 percent in the week.

Platinum Australia Ltd. (PLA AU), owner of platinum mines in South Africa and Australia, slumped 10 cents, or 6.9 percent, to A$1.35, the lowest since March 2007. Platinum fell, capping the biggest weekly drop in 22 years, on concern auto sales in emerging markets will falter, further reducing demand for the metal used in car parts.

Suncorp-Metway Ltd. (SUN AU), Australia's third-largest general insurer, surged 82 cents, or 7.7 percent, to A$11.50, the highest since Aug. 28. Suncorp said it has been approached by companies wanting to buy its banking and wealth management units.

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