By Robb M. Stewart
MELBOURNE, Australia--Australian stocks shrugged off a slump in
oil prices to rise Tuesday, lifted by financial and consumer-goods
shares after solid retail-sales data.
But weighed by resources shares and after the Reserve Bank of
Australia left its key cash rate at a record low for the third
straight month, the stock market failed to hold on to its highs for
the day.
The S&P/ASX ended up 0.3% at 5697.90, having been up as much
as 0.9% before the central bank's monetary-policy statement was
released.
Although the rate decision was widely anticipated by economists,
it sparked strong gains in the Australian dollar after the policy
statement stepped back from further jawboning to push the currency
lower. Reserve Bank Gov. Glenn Stevens noted the dollar had been
adjusting to significant declines in the prices of key
commodities.
That came after the statistics bureau reported a 0.7% rise in
retail sales in June from May, the biggest month-over-month
increase since February and ahead of economists' forecasts.
The basket of ASX 200 discretionary consumer shares gained 0.8%
and consumer staples climbed 1% for the day, with names such as
electronics retailer Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. (HVN.AU) up 6.1%
and Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (DMP.AU) adding 3.5%.
Insurance stocks were stronger after Suncorp Group Ltd. (SUN.AU)
posted a 55% jump in full-year profit and offered a special
dividend to shareholders on top of the payout for the second half
of the financial year. Suncorp's shares rose 1.5%, QBE Insurance
Group Ltd. (QBE.AU) increased 1.2% and Insurance Australia Group
Ltd. (IAG.AU) added 0.7%.
"Suncorp have really lifted expectations for Aussie reporting
season," IG market analyst Chris Weston said. "The diversified
financial has had a good run since early May and the market clearly
wanted to see pleasing number."
Shares in the big banks were mixed. National Australia Bank Ltd.
(NAB.AU) and Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) fell 0.1% and 0.2%,
respectively, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU)
advanced 0.8% and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.
(ANZ.AU) added 0.3%.
Energy shares were weaker after an overnight fall in oil prices,
with the Brent benchmark dropping below US$50 a barrel for the
first time in since late January, bringing losses to 53% over the
past year. Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) and Oil Search Ltd.
(OSH.AU) each fell 0.8%, while Santos Ltd. (STO.AU)declined
2.6%.
Energy and mining company BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) fell 1.1%,
while mining company Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO.AU) dropped 0.3% and
iron-ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG.AU) lost
4.6%.
Biotechnology company CSL Ltd. (CSL.AU) broke above 100
Australian dollars (US$72.86) a share, a level no other stock
currently holds, as it continued its recent steady run with a 2%
rise. IG's Mr. Weston said the about 5% fall in the Australian
dollar over July had helped back the rise in CSL, which reports in
U.S. dollars.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
