Australia: Gains in financials, BHP lift stocks

[BENGALURU] Australian shares rose on Wednesday (Oct 20), lifted by financial and mining stocks, while global miner BHP touched a month high after topping billionaire Andrew Forrest's bid for nickel miner Noront Resources.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose about 0.53 per cent to close at 7,413.7, after falling 0.08 per cent on Tuesday.

The biggest boost to the benchmark came from the financial sector, which closed 0.96 per cent higher with the big banks adding between 0.6 per cent and 1.1 per cent.

"The major banks are also seen to be harnessing the benefits of a recent uptick in Australian 10-year bond yield, which seems to have increased the attractiveness of the financial stocks," said Kunal Sawhney, chief executive of equity research firm Kalkine Group.

Miners gained 0.03 per cent, after BHP added 0.5 per cent as it sweetened its bid for Canada's Noront Resources.

Rio Tinto and Fortescue lost 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Investors believe the gains in the index, which has dropped about 4 per cent this year, are likely to be short-lived as China remains adamant over implementing steel output curbs over the remainder of the year, and a possibility of shake-up of iron ore prices remains on the back of the developing China Evergrande Group crisis.

Tech stocks rose 1.1 per cent to a 3-week high, as positive earnings sentiment from tech companies on Wall Street spilled over.

Codan was the top gainer on the tech index and on the benchmark as it closed 7.6 per cent higher.

Online retailer Kogan.com also rose 6.7 per cent to hit its highest in almost 2 months after a jump in quarterly gross sales.

Coal miners across the board fell after the Chinese government said it would intervene to curb surging coal prices, sending Whitehaven Coal's shares down 7.85 per cent to make it the top loser on the benchmark.

Fellow coal miners Yancoal Australia and New Hope also dropped 6.2 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.37 per cent to 13,114.24.

REUTERS