SYDNEY: Australian stocks wound their way lower in early Wednesday trading, with the S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) 0.5% softer to pare a 0.9% advance in the previous session. Despite a further climb for spot iron-ore prices, BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP) (BHP) lost 2%, Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO) (RIO) fell 1.1% and Arrium Ltd. (AU:ARI) (ARRMF) sat flat, though BC Iron Ltd. (AU:BCI) rose 1.2% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) managed to add 1% after zooming about 11% higher on Tuesday in reaction to a report that Chinese companies could invest in Fortescue. Among the financials, National Australia Bank Ltd. (AU:NAB) (NAUBF) lost 0.7% and AMP Ltd. (AU:AMP) (AMLTF) dropped 1.2% after overnight losses on Wall Street, while Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) (ANEWF) edged 0.1% higher and Westpac Banking Corp. (AU:WBC) (WEBNF) was flat. Shares of Suncorp Group Ltd. (AU:SUN) (SNMCY) limited their loss to 0.2% as the insurer announced an almost $60 million investment to optimize its operations. On the upside, James Hardie Industries SE (AU:JHX) (JHIUF) improved by 1.2% after U.S. April new-home sales printed stronger than expected. Likewise, losses for energy futures helped Qantas Airways Ltd. (AU:QAN) (QUBSF) to rise 0.9%, while Oil Search Ltd. (AU:OSH) (OISHF) lost 0.3%, and a more-than-2% drop for natural gas appeared to help drive Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. (AU:KAR) (KRNGF) 4.1% lower.
