By Rhiannon Hoyle
SYDNEY--Australia's share market closed in positive territory
and within striking distance of a recent multiyear high on Thursday
as it shrugged off jitters about U.S. budget negotiations.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended at 5294.5--up 0.4% on its
previous close as opportunistic dip-buying emerged after an early
fall and Japan's Nikkei gained from a weaker yen. The close was a
touch below last week's five-year intraday peak of 5300.1.
Market players were, however, cautious of placing big bets as
discussions over the U.S. debt ceiling continue. Other stock
markets in the region were mostly lower as a thin economic calendar
left investors to take cues from a fifth straight daily decline on
Wall Street.
"Investors for the most part have decided to stay on the
sidelines which is also indicative of the way the markets have
moved over this trading week," CMC Markets trader Betty Lam
said.
Mining companies benefited from stronger iron-ore prices and
improved sentiment in base-metal markets after upbeat economic data
from the U.S.--including solid new-home sales. The stock exchange's
materials index closed 0.8% higher. BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto
PLC rose 1.0% and 1.6%, respectively. BHP Billiton earlier priced a
US$5 billion bond issue which was assigned an A-plus, long-term
credit rating by Standard & Poor's.
Whitehaven Coal Ltd. closed 0.5% higher at 2.02 Australian
dollars (US$1.89) after it successfully had dismissed an injunction
brought by environmentalists seeking to stop construction of its
760 million Australian dollar (US$697 million) Maules Creek mine in
New South Wales state.
The local bourse ticked higher after government data showed job
vacancies climbed 3.1% in the three months to the end of August.
The number of vacancies tends to fall in a worsening economic
climate as companies are less inclined to hire as look to lower
costs.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
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