Australia Stocks Preview: Origin, Qantas Airways, Rio, Telstra

By Shani Raja

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies whose shares may rise or fall in Australia. This preview includes news announced after markets closed yesterday. Prices are from yesterday's close unless otherwise stated.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index futures contract due in December rose 2.7 percent to 4,812 at 6:57 a.m. in Sydney. The Bank of New York Australia ADR Index gained 2.6 percent in New York.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index slumped 206.90 points, or 4.3 percent, to 4,600.50.

Mining shares: American depositary receipts of BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP AU), the world's largest mining company, rose 3 percent to the equivalent of A$32.72 a share in New York, A$1.72 higher than the A$31 close in Sydney.

Rio Tinto Group (RIO AU), the world's second-largest iron- ore producer, may more than double planned output at its Corumba mine in Brazil to about 23 million metric tons a year amid rising demand for the steelmaking ingredient. Rio plunged A$11, or 12 percent, to A$84.50.

Oil companies: Crude oil for November delivery rose $4.27, or 4.4 percent, to settle at $100.64 a barrel in New York, rebounding from its biggest drop in seven years, after U.S. lawmakers said they intend to salvage a $700 billion bank-rescue package.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), operator of Australia's A$25 billion ($20 billion) North West Shelf liquefied natural gas venture, slumped A$3.55, or 6.5 percent, to A$51.

Financial stocks: The U.S. S&P 500 rose 58.35 points, or 5.3 percent, to 1,164.74, its biggest rally since July 2002. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. climbed more than 13 percent as Senate leaders vowed to resume work on the bailout plan this week after its rejection spurred the market's steepest decline in two decades.

National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB AU), the nation's largest lender, declined A$1.43, or 5.6 percent, to A$24.26.

Origin Energy Ltd. (ORG AU): The company was reinstated ``buy'' by analyst John Hirjee at Deutsche Bank, with a price target of A$21.10 per share. Origin dropped 53 cents, or 3.2 percent, to A$16.11.

Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN AU): Global airline passenger traffic-growth slowed in August to the weakest pace in almost five years as the financial crisis hurt travel demand, the International Air Transport Association said in an e-mailed statement. Qantas declined 10 cents, or 3.1 percent, to A$3.13.

Telstra Corp. (TLS AU): Chief Executive Officer Sol Trujillo said the deepening credit crunch's impact on Australia's largest phone company is ``small'' because customers regard phone services as essential. Telstra slipped 4 cents, or 1 percent, to A$4.18.

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