Australia Shares End Slightly Down; Energy Stocks Rise

   By Robb M. Stewart 
 

MELBOURNE, Australia--Australian stocks ended a volatile session slightly lower Tuesday, though a second day of gains by energy shares offered support.

The S&P/ASX 200 finished down 5.2 points, or nearly 0.1%, after having swung between a decline of as much as 1.1% and a gain of 0.3% during the course of the session.

The market began the day in the red, surrendering some of the previous session's gains to echo declines in European and U.S. stocks in overnight trading after sharp Monday drop in Chinese shares. But as markets in China cut losses on Tuesday, the Australian market recovered.

About 2.1 billion shares were traded worth an above-average 5.5 billion Australian dollars (US$4 billion), Commonwealth Securities said.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) rose 1.7% and Santos Ltd. (STO.AU) added 0.6%. Origin Energy Ltd. (ORG.AU) gained 2.7%, helped by news its Australia Pacific LNG liquefied natural gas joint venture with ConocoPhillips and Sinopec is firmly on track to export its first fuel in the second half of the year.

Mining stocks were lower as investors remained cautious following sharp drops in industrial metals. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) lost 0.6% and South32 Ltd. (S32.AU), a company recently spun off by BHP, declined 1.1%. However, Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO.AU) edged up 0.2% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG.AU) gained 2.3% after the price of iron ore gained 1.4% on Monday to US$51.40 a metric ton.

Gold stocks handed back some of Monday's strong gains as spot prices for the metal slipped in Asia trading to remain below the psychological level of $1,100 a troy ounce. Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM.AU) lost 2%, Regis Resources Ltd. (RRL.AU) fell 4.7% and OceanaGold Corp. (OGC.AU) dropped 5.3%.

The big banks were mixed, with Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AU) down 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU) and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AU) both rose 0.3%.

Healthcare stocks were broadly higher, buoyed by a 1.6% rise in CSL Ltd. (CSL.AU) after it said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had accepted a license application for one of its therapies for patients with haemophilia.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at [e-mail]