BHP, Centro, Medusa, Rio, Sims, Woodside: Australian, New Zealand Stocks

Aug 31(Bloomberg)--

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.7 percent to 4,420.00 as of 10:37 a.m. in Sydney. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index declined 0.4 percent to 3,024.07 in Wellington.

The following were among the most active shares in the market today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Mining shares: Copper futures for December delivery fell as much as 1.3 percent in New York trading today.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP AU), the world’s biggest mining company, dipped 1.7 percent to A$37.24 in Sydney.

Rio Tinto Group (RIO AU), the world’s third-largest miner, declined 1.6 percent to A$69.86.

Oil companies: Crude oil for October delivery fell as much as 0.9 percent to $74.03 a barrel in New York, and was at $74.09 at 8:53 a.m. Sydney time.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), Australia’s second- largest oil and gas producer, dropped 0.5 percent to A$42.25.

Centro Properties Group (CNP AU), an Australian developer restructuring its business, fell 2.9 percent to 17 Australian cents after it reported a full-year loss of A$652.7 million ($582 million). Centro Retail Group (CER AU) dropped 6.1 percent to 15.5 Australian cents. The real-estate investment trust managed by Centro Properties, had its stock rating cut to “neutral” from “overweight” by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Medusa Mining Ltd. (MML AU) shares rose 2.5 percent to A$4.04 after saying full-year net profit jumped 131 percent to a record $65.8 million.

Sims Metal Management Ltd. (SGM AU) fell 1.2 percent to A$16.59. The world’s biggest recycler of scrap metal was downgraded to

"hold” from “buy” by analysts at BBY Ltd.