Australian shares slipped 0.1 percent on Wednesday, reversing early gains as banks, mining and energy firms went into retreat in tandem with Asian bourses after a credit downgrade of Japan. At the market close, BHP Billiton reported a record second-half profit driven largely by iron ore, but just missed market forecasts and sounded a warning over costs and longer-term demand.
BHP shares were flat ahead of the results, while rival Rio Tinto fell 1.7 percent. "It's a very solid and commendable result but it's not enough in terms of the surprise factor to catapult people to go and buy the stock," said Tim Schroeders, portfolio manager, Pengana Capital.
"It's probably a more guarded comment in terms of the demand outlook," he said. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 5.8 points at 4,167.6, according to the latest data, after sellers gained the upper hand, snuffing out an early rally that boosted the market by as much as 1.4 percent. The benchmark rose 2.2 percent on Tuesday. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.5 percent to 3,287.5.
Top banks gave up early gains to lose ground, with Westpac Banking Corp dropping 1.7 percent to A$19.72. Rail and ports operator Asciano Ltd fell 3.5 percent to A$1.515 after it returned to profit but doused expectations it might sell or de-merge its Patrick ports operations. Seven West Media surged 18 percent to A$3.12 after it reported a 23 percent rise in annual television profits and said it was reviewing costs. The stock had been battered as low as A$2.52 on Monday, from highs above $5 early in the year. Pacific Brands scored a 14.4 percent rise to A$0.715 after it announced an on-market share buy-back of up to about 93 million shares.
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