Monday February 23, 12:43 AM
Australia shares fall 2 pct; banks, resources lead
SYDNEY, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Australian stocks fell 2 percent
on Monday, pulled lower by banks after falls in their U.S.
counterparts on fears some may face nationalisation, while
resources firms fell after a drop in oil and metals prices at the
end of last week.
A mixed bag of results from Australian companies also weighed
down on sentiment, analysts said.
'Today is a heavy day for results, but the general picture
from the reporting season is that maybe it's not as bad as
feared. But it's certainly not very good,' said Shane Oliver,
head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors.
'We're are still seeing further downgrades in terms of profit
expectations going forward. The profit results have not been
enough to insulate us from the weaknening occuring globally,'
Oliver said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index stood 67.7 points
lower at 3,334.7 at 0011 GMT.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.7 percent
to 2,558.5.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE
* Rio Tinto Ltd (Munich: 855018 - news) fell 4.7 percent to A$47.93
and global miner BHP Billiton Ltd was down 3.9
percent to A$29.32 after a fall in base metals prices on Friday.
BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L - news) was also trading without the rights to its dividend.
0011 GMT
* Banking shares fell, led by No.4 Australia and New Zealand
Banking Group, which was down 2.3 percent at A$12.16.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Munich: 882695 - news) fell 1.6 percent to
A$29.10. Bank and insurer Suncorp-Metway Ltd fell 6.4
percent to A$4.97 and investment bank Macquarie Group
fell 5 percent to A$19.57, an over six-year low.
0010 GMT
* Shares in oil and gas companies were down after a fall in
oil prices at the end of last week. Roc Oil Company,
fell 11.3 percent to A$0.32. Woodside Petroleum Ltd (Berlin: WOPA.BE - news)
dropped 1.7 percent to A$32.8 and Santos Ltd fell 1.9
percent to A$14.28.
0009 GMT
* BlueScope Steel Ltd (Berlin: BH5.BE - news) , Australia's top steelmaker,
dropped 9 percent to A$2.84 after the company said market
conditions would be challenging in fiscal 2009 and the outlook
for the second half was weaker than anticipated. For more see
0005 GMT
* Agribusiness group Futuris Corp Ltd rose 1.8
percent to A$0.29 after the group said it had sold a further
14.99 percent stake in Australian Agricultural Co Ltd
for A$67.4 million ($43.5 million).
0005 GMT
(Reporting by Mette Fraende)
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