Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index Declines After Terrorism Threat
Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell, led by the biggest companies by market value such as BHP Billiton, after Prime Minister John Howard said the government had received information on a terrorism threat.
``It's a case of traders taking their bids off the board until the situation becomes clearer,'' said Paul Xiradis, who helps manage $2.3 billion at Ausbil Dexia Ltd. in Sydney. ``Investors would rather buy stocks a bit later when there's a touch more certainty about the seriousness of the threat.''
The S&P/ASX 200 slid 21.2, or 0.5 percent, to 4453.50 as of 1:02 p.m. in Sydney. It earlier rose as much as 0.2 percent. About 13 stocks fell for every five that gained.
BHP, the world's biggest mining company, fell 8 cents, or 0.4 percent, to A$20.82. National Australia Bank Ltd., the nation's biggest lender by market value, lost 20 cents, or 0.6 percent, to A$32.90.
``We have seen material, it is a cause of concern,'' Howard told reporters in Canberra. He declined to be more specific about the nature of the threat.
Howard said he will recall the Senate to pass an amendment to anti-terrorism legislation this week to increase the ability of law enforcement agencies to deal with the threat. ``We are doing everything we can to protect the public,'' Howard said.
Howard is currently negotiating with state governments to introduce a new set of anti-terror laws. The laws need to be approved by the nation's eight state and territories, which share responsibility with the federal government for policing and law enforcement.
The following shares also rose or fell. The stock symbols are in brackets after the company names.
Australian stocks:
Gold stocks: Newcrest Mining Ltd. and Lihir GFold Ltd. rose after UBS AG said they were attractive takeover targets following Barrick Gold Corp.'s bid for Canada's Placer Dome Inc. this week. Shares of Newcrest and Lihir are worth A$28 and A$3.50, respectively, based on Barrick's $9.2 billion bid for Placer Dome, Fleur Grose and Chris Drew, analysts at UBS in Sydney, said in a note to clients.
Newcrest, Australia's biggest producer, climbed 48 cents, or 2.6 percent, to A$18.98. Lihir, which owns a mine in Papua New Guinea, rose 1.5 cents, or 0.9 percent, to A$1.76.
Leighton Holdings Ltd. (LEI AU), Australia's biggest construction company, slid 50 cents, or 3.3 percent, to A$14.77 after land subsided at its Lane Cove Tunnel project in Sydney, causing an apartment building to partially collapse.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), Australia's second-biggest oil producer, gained 50 cents, or 1.6 percent, to A$31.90. The company has identified three new target areas in its exploration program off Mauritania after failing to make any economic discoveries so far this year.
