Australian shares end flat; BHP copper output cut, work-stoppage dents miners
Australian shares ended flat on Thursday, as banks steadied the benchmark against a BHP-led mining selloff that wiped out most of the sector's recent gains, after the global miner cut its copper production outlook.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was unchanged at 8840.70 points. The index closed 0.4% higher on Wednesday.
BHP shares slid 2.3% after the world's largest listed miner warned that copper output could fall by as much as 15.5% next year, citing an expected decline in ore grades at its flagship Escondida mine in Chile.
Also adding pressure on the stock was an eight-hour work stoppage by employees at its Port Hedland iron-ore operations.
BHP's fall comes a day after shares surged more than 3% on bets that a winter storm in Chile's copper belt would tighten supply and lift copper prices.
"Today the market's handing that gain back, and the Port Hedland strike vote is exactly the kind of headline that gives sellers permission to do it," said Mark Gardner, CEO of MPC Markets.
The broader mining sub-index fell as much as 2.4%, marking its worst session in a week and snapping two straight sessions of gains.
BHP's major rivals Rio Tinto and Fortescue fell 0.4% and 1.1%, respectively.
Gold miners fell 0.8% as bullion prices weakened. Evolution Mining declined 3%.
Energy stocks fell 1.5% as oil prices retreated.
"Equity markets tend to fade a risk premium faster than the underlying commodity does, on the view that a de-escalation unwinds it quickly, so a pullback in energy shares after such a sharp run-up isn't really a puzzle," said William Taylor, COO and portfolio manager at ETF Shares.
Banks rose 0.9% to hit a two-month high, capping the benchmark's losses, with the 'big four' banks gaining between 0.1% and 1.8%.
Among individual stocks, AMP jumped as much as 9.3%, its highest level in nine months, after half-year underlying net profit after tax rose.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.1% to 13615.51 points.
