By Sam Waite
March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.1 percent to 3,478.300 as of 10:48 a.m. in Sydney. The following are among the most active shares in the Australian market. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Banks fell after financial shares led a retreat in U.S. stocks on skepticism the Federal Reserve’s plan to buy bonds will revive the economy. Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG AU), Australia’s largest investment bank, lost 5.1 percent to A$23.24. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA AU), the nation’s biggest mortgage lender, dropped 2.4 percent to A$33.17.
Gold producers: Gold jumped the most in six months in New York after the Federal Reserve’s plan to buy debt weakened the dollar and revived concerns inflation will accelerate. Silver surged to the biggest gain in 29 years.
Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM AU), Australia’s biggest gold producer, rose 3.3 percent to A$34.17. Lihir Gold Ltd. (LGL AU) rose 3.1 percent to A$3.36 in Sydney trading.
Mining shares: The Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of 19 commodities rose 5.3 percent, to 225.3, the biggest gain since Dec. 31. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP AU), the world’s largest mining company, rose 4.1 percent to A$32.53.
Oil companies: Crude oil for April delivery rose $3.47 to $51.61 a barrel at 2:44 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Nov. 28. Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer behind BHP, gained 1.7 percent to A$37.61.
To contact the reporter for this story: Sam Waite in Tokyo at Swaite1@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment