Australian stocks rose 0.2 percent on Monday as bargain hunters looked for good buys after the market slumped to a three-month low last week, but investors bailed out of retailer JB Hi-Fi, after it announced a new CEO. The market's nine percent drop over the past four weeks, including Friday's 2.3 percent slide, had attracted some investors back in light volumes.
But the market gave up most of its early gains, and dealers said concerns about global growth and budget strains in countries like Greece and Portugal were likely to outweigh gains sparked by any solid results from local companies over the next few weeks.
"I think everyone's going to remain fairly nervous," said Martin Angel, a dealer at Patersons Securities. "You've got too many uncertainties out there and people are just wondering what to do next. It's a hard call at the moment." The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index picked up 7.3 points to close at 4,521.4, according to the latest data.
Top miner BHP Billiton started the day strong, but ended up just 0.1 percent at A$39.60, while rival Rio Tinto rose 0.9 percent to A$67.18. The top banks all ended higher, led by a 2.8 percent rise in Westpac Banking Corp to A$23.25. Macquarie Group, Australia's top investment bank, rose in line with the market to A$50.35 ahead of third-quarter trading update on Tuesday.
TV broadcaster Ten Network Holdings was the top gainer, rising 10 percent to A$1.66 after the federal government said it would slash license fees by a third in 2010 and by half in 2011 for broadcasters who air more Australian shows. Ten has the biggest pure exposure to TV. Rival Seven Network, which also has newspaper interests, rose 2.4 percent to A$6.88.
Electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi suffered its biggest one-day drop in nine months in its heaviest volume in a year, sliding 5.1 percent to A$19.07 after announcing its well-respected Chief Executive Richard Uechtritz would retire around July.
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