Australia Shares Rise for a Fifth Straight Session

   By Robb M. Stewart 
 

MELBOURNE, Australia--Australia's equities market managed a modest gain Monday, rising for a fifth straight session as a continuing recovery for banking shares offset weakness in resources.

The S&P/ASX 200 finished 16.8 points, or 0.3%, higher at 5686.9, having spent much of the day trading broadly flat. Last week, the index racked up one of its strongest weeks since early February as worries about Greece faded.

Investors appeared to take in stride a move by Australia's banking regulator to increase the capital levels that the biggest lenders will need to hold against their residential mortgage books. The move is part of a broader push to lift capital buffers. Analysts expected the move would be imposed following recommendations made in a sweeping government-backed review of the financial industry released late last year.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Ltd. (ANZ.AU) advanced 1.3%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU) rose 0.4%, National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AU) gained 0.3% and Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) nudged up 0.1%. Investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG.AU), which will also be affected by the regulator's changes, climbed 2%.

Gains by the U.S. dollar against Australian and other currencies weighed on commodity prices, with crude-oil futures slightly weaker in Asian trade and the gold price down more than 2% to a five-year low, which was further dented after China's central bank indicated its gold reserves were half the expected level.

Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) ended down 0.6%, Oil Search Ltd. (OSH.AU) dropped 1.3% and Santos Ltd. (STO.AU) lost 1.6%.

Gold producer Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM.AU), which on Monday said operations at its Hidden Valley mine in Papua New Guinea had temporarily been halted after a worker died in a road crash, sank 10%. Other gold miners were also lower, with OceanaGold Corp. (OGC.AU) falling 8.2%, Gold Road Resources Ltd. (GOR.AU) declining 10% and Evolution Mining Ltd. (EVN.AU) sinking 15%.

Still, the mining industry heavyweights were mixed, with BHP Billiton Ltd. (EVN.AU) declining 0.4% but Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO.AU) adding 1.6%. Iron-ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG.AU) rose 1.8%.

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