Australia stocks soften after U.S. jobs report

MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australia stocks tilted lower early Monday as the Sydney markets reacted to last week s disappointing jobs numbers out of the U.S., with the S/ASX 200 down 0.2% at 5,304.40. Data out Friday showed the U.S. added a net 74,000 jobs, trailing a forecast for 193,000 positions, and while Wall Street ended mixed following the numbers, Australian stocks will global exposure moved lower. Financial major Macquarie Group Ltd. fell 1.8%, mall developer Westfield Group Australia retreated 0.6%, and media firm News Corp. -- the parent of MarketWatch, publisher of this report -- gave up 1.3%. But the jobs report also depressed the U.S. dollar, which helped boost prices for dollar-denominated commodities, and this in turn supported Australian resource shares. BHP Billiton Ltd. gained 0.6%, Rio Tinto Ltd. added 0.9%, Alumina Ltd. rallied 4.5%, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. improved by 1.2%. A strong showing for Comex gold on Friday also sent Newcrest Mining Ltd. up 3.5%. and Evolution Mining Ltd. surging 8.8%. Shares of Telstra Corp. inched 0.1% higher after agreeing to sell 70% of its Sensis directories business to a U.S. private-equity firm at a price of about $400 million.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.