Australia Stocks: Newcrest, National Australia, Qantas, Santos

By Shani Raja

Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 40.50 points, or 1 percent, to 3,972.90 at 1:03 p.m. in Sydney. The broader All Ordinaries Index lost 7.70 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,980.40, while the futures index expiring in December advanced 0.7 percent to 4,056.

Gold producers: Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM AU), Australia's largest gold producer, fell A$1.03, or 4.3 percent, to A$23.21, the lowest since Oct. 8. Lihir Gold Ltd. (LGL AU), the second- largest gold mining company on the Australian Stock Exchange, slumped 10 cents, or 4.6 percent, to A$1.98, the lowest since Sept. 16.

Gold declined to a one-month low on speculation investors will sell the precious metal to cover losses in other markets. Gold futures for December delivery fell 4.1 percent to $804.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.


National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB AU), the nation's biggest by assets, declined 53 cents, or 2.3 percent, to A$22.17, the lowest since Oct. 10. The lender declined to comment on reports about its plans to raise funds. National Australia may announce plans in the next few days to seek as much as A$2.5 billion ($1.7 billion) in additional capital, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, without citing anybody.

Platinum Australia Ltd. (PLA AU), which owns mines in South Africa and Australia, plunged 10 cents, or 15 percent, to 57 cents, the lowest since March 2006. Platinum plunged almost 9 percent to the lowest since 2005 on speculation the global economy will fall into recession and demand for the metal will decline.

Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN AU) surged 12 cents, or 4.7 percent, to A$2.67, the most since August, after Merrill Lynch & Co. raised its rating to ``neutral'' from ``underperform.''

Santos Ltd. (STO AU) fell 30 cents, or 2.8 percent, to A$10.60, extending yesterday's 16 percent slump. Crude oil fell below $70 a barrel in New York to the lowest since June 2007 and gasoline tumbled after a U.S. government report showed stockpiles increased more than twice as much as forecast.

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