Australia: Shares rise for second day as commodities bounce, Glencore relief

[SYDNEY] Australian shares rose 1.6 per cent on Thursday, led by across-the-board gains underpinned by strength on Wall Street and as embattled commodities group Glencore bounced from a collapse at the start of the week.

Twin surveys on China's manufacturing sector also provided some relief as the weak showings were not as bad as some had feared.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 80.5 points to 5,102.2 by 0301 GMT, extending a 2.1 per cent jump on Wednesday, supported by bargain-buying led gains on Wall street overnight.

The index still posted its biggest quarterly loss in four years, reflecting turmoil in global financial markets on slackening global growth, particularly in China - Australia's major trading partner.

Mining and trading company Glencore staged a rally overnight after it fell almost 30 per cent on Monday, boosting commodity prices. "One of the factors that's helping the market is the rebound we are seeing in Glencore which was up 14 per cent overnight,"said Julia Lee, equities analyst at Bell Direct.

Also, Ms Lee said, "seasonally what we have found is that in October we tend to see a fall in volatility which typically bodes well for investor concerns." Financial stocks rose with Commonwealth Bank and ANZ each up 1.5 per cent while NAB gained 1.7 per cent.

Mining giant BHP Billiton jumped 2.4 per cent and Rio Tinto rose 1.6 per cent.

Copper miner Oz Minerals soared 17.52 per cent on an unsourced rumour of a share raid.

Energy stocks such as Woodside Petroleum climbed 2.3 per cent while Beach Energy gained 3.9 per cent.

Telecommunications company Covata Ltd rose as much as 12.7 per cent after exceeding its Q1FY16 targets.

For more individual stocks activity click on New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index dipped to a one-month low, weighed by a tumble in petrol retailer Z Energy shares which had their worst one-day drop.

The index fell 0.3 per cent to 5,578.850, having skidded 2.3 per cent in the quarter, the largest loss since 2012.

Much of Thursday's damage came after New Zealand's state-run pension fund and utilities investor Infratil agreed to sell its 20 per cent interest in Z Energy at NZ$6.0 a share. The news sent Z Energy shares 11 percent lower.

Shares in Fonterra's fund, which provides investor exposure to the farmer-owned dairy exporter, fell 1.3 per cent.

Clothing retailers Kathmandu Holdings and Pumpkin Patch were back in the black following recent hefty losses.

REUTERS