Stock Market Update
Wed, 02 Feb 2000, 9:34pm EST
Australian Stocks Rise, Led by News Corp.; N.Z. Stocks Fall
By Brett Cole
Sydney, Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Australian stocks rose, led by
News Corp., as investors bet the world's fourth largest media
company's strategy and assets will push its shares higher.
Investors shrugged off a higher-than-expected interest rate
rise by the central bank, with some betting a bigger boost now
lowers the chances of more big increases any time soon.
An interest rate increase ''has been built in,'' said Martin
Littler, who helps manage A$8 billion ($5 billion) in Australian
equities at Commonwealth Investment Management in Sydney. He has
confidence in News Corp.'s management and is ''a believer in their
content argument and their distribution argument.''
The All Ordinaries Index rose 31.50, or 1 percent, to
3116.00. Within the index, 109 stocks fell and 104 rose.
New Zealand stocks fell before companies are due to release
profit reports in the coming month. The Top 40 Index fell 6.52, or
0.3 percent, to 2035.39. Within the index, 22 stocks fell and 11
rose.
|
