Reuters Australia
Aussie stocks close up 0.1 pct; Westpac gains
Friday August 8, 07:05 PM
(Adds Westpac, miners; updates indices)
SYDNEY, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed up 0.1 percent on Friday, on broad buying with Westpac Banking Corp Ltd (ASX: WBC.ax) advancing after assuring investors it would not suffer major loan losses.
In a market update, Westpac said its credit quality remained good, distancing itself from credit market problems revealed last month by National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB.ax) and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ.ax) . [nSYD54981]
"It was a pretty impressive performance after a 1.9 percent fall in the Dow," said Robert Patterson, managing director at Argo Investments Ltd (ASX: ARG.ax) .
He said Westpac's market update had boosted sentiment.
"We had all hoped it (Westpac) was clean. Frankly if it hadn't have been, we would have joined the Dow," said Patterson.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 2.9 points to 4,986.2, above a low of 4,911.0. For the week the index gained 1.7 percent.
A total of 1.16 billion shares traded on Friday worth A$4.59 billion ($4.11 billion). Gainers outnumbered decliners 513 to 511 while 325 stocks were untraded.
New Zealand's benchmark NZ-50 index .NZ50 fell 0.6 percent, or 21.1 points at 3,357.82. The most heavily weighted stock, Telecom Corp of New Zealand (NZX: TEL.nz) , was down 7.6 percent at NZ$3.40. Telecom forecast a sharp decline in fiscal 2009 earnings [nWEL116243].
Westpac (ASX: WBC.ax) was up 1.7 percent at A$23.55 and its takeover target, St. George, gained 0.4 percent to A$29.42.
Among the other banks, NAB was down 2.4 percent at A$25.15, ANZ was off 3.6 percent at A$17.35 and Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd (ASX: CBA.ax) dropped 1.2 percent to A$43.42.
CMC Markets senior dealer Matthew Lewis said the market was also buoyed by the prospect of interest-rate cuts, possibly as early as next month.
On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia signalled there was scope for an easing in monetary policy. More insight into the central bank's view on the economy will be provided in a monetary policy statement to be released on Monday.
Lewis said the market was also supported by gains in the oil and gas sector after a rise in oil prices though the world's top miner and Australia's largest oil producer, BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP.ax) , ended lower on concerns that slowing global growth would crimp demand for raw materials.
BHP Billiton eased 0.1 percent to A$37.15 though its takeover target, Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO.ax) gained 0.9 percent to A$116.00.
Oil and gas sector leader Woodside Petroleum (ASX: WPL.ax) rose 0.6 percent to A$51.50 while second ranked Santos Ltd (ASX: STO.ax) gained 3.4 percent to A$17.23.
Gold sector leader Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM.ax) rose 4.7 percent to A$26.40 after its bought a stake in a Papua New Guinea gold project.[nSYU004895] ($1=A$1.10) (Reporting by Bruce Hextall, Editing by Mark Bendeich)
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