Australia Stocks: Babcock, National Bank, Newcrest, Westpac

By Shani Raja

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 206.70 points, or 5.2 percent, to 4,167.40 at 10:15 a.m. in Sydney, the biggest gain since October 1997. The broader All Ordinaries Index gained 197 points, or 5 percent, to 4,136.50.

Financial stocks: National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB AU), the nation's largest lender, rose A$2.18, or 11 percent, to A$22.98, the most since Sept. 19. Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC AU) gained A$1.54, or 7.6 percent, to A$21.73, the most since Oct. 1. Babcock & Brown Ltd. (BNB AU), a manager of infrastructure assets, soared 30 cents, or 30 percent, to A$1.31.


Australia's government said it will guarantee all deposits with institutions for three years, while European leaders at the weekend agreed to guarantee bank borrowing and use government money to prevent big lenders from going under. Separately, the U.S. Federal Reserve pledged to ``consider every option'' to restore investor confidence.

Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM AU), Australia's largest gold producer, declined 69 cents, or 2.7 percent, to A$24.95, the benchmark's fourth-biggest loser.

Gold tumbled from the highest level since July as investors sold the metal to cover losses in equity markets. Gold futures for December delivery fell 3.1 percent to $859 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest decline since Oct. 2.

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