Australia Shares Little Changed Despite Rise by Banks

   By Robb M. Stewart 
 

MELBOURNE, Australia--Australia's share market was flat Wednesday as gains by the country's big banks were offset by weakness in most other sectors.

The S&P/ASX 200 ended up 0.07% at 5973.30, edging toward 6000, a hurdle last reached in mid-January 2008.

"The tone of today's trade [was] very similar to yesterday, with the market struggling for direction as a lack of significant economic data gave little incentive for investors to back any large moves," said Tristan K'Nell, head of trading at Quay Equities in Sydney.

Shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU), Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ.AU) each rose 0.8%, while shares of National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AU) gained 0.9%.

Gold producers also managed gains after the price of the precious metal in New York climbed for a fifth straight session, with shares of Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM.AU), OceanaGold Corp. (OGC.AU) and Norton Gold Fields Ltd. (NGF.AU) rising 0.2%, 2% and 2.6%, respectively.

Among other mining companies, shares of BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) fell 0.4%, shares of Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO.AU) lost 0.9% and shares of OZ Minerals Ltd. (OZL.AU) gave up some recent gains to end 2.4% lower.

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