Australia stocks catch up with losses

MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch)-- Australian stocks opened sharply lower Tuesday, returning from a three-day weekend to catch up with sizeable losses for global equities the previous day. The S/ASX 200 retreated 1.2% to 5,178.20, with the resource shares among the hardest hit after gold futures fell and copper traded at a seven-week low. Among the largest senior miners, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Ltd. dropped 2.1% each, while Oz Minerals Ltd. gave up 2.8% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. fell 1.9%. Among the gold extractors, Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. lost 4%, and Perseus Mining Ltd. fell 4.8% in the wake of its production report. The heavily weighted banks saw slightly smaller losses, with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group off 1.8% and Westpac Banking Corp. lower by 1.5%. Among the few gainers, contruction-material firm Boral Ltd. added 1% after forecasting a strong gain for its first-half profit, while energy major Oil Search Ltd. climbed 2.1% as it hiked its outlook for 2014 production due to an expected timely start for a liquefied natural-gas project in Papua New Guinea conducted with Exxon Mobil Corp. Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.