SYDNEY - Australian shares fell 1.9 per cent on Thursday, hurt by a steep decline in the world's biggest miner BHP Billiton Ltd, after its US$3 billion share buyback landed short of expectations.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO lost 94.5 points to 4,987.8, based on the latest available data, retreating
from Wednesday's six-week closing peak.
BHP reported a 77 per cent rise in second-half profit on Thursday, but that didn't stop the stock from falling 3.1 per cent to A$27.51. BHP has a 10.3 per cent weighting in the index. Morgan Stanley cut its target price on BHP.
"The expectation in the UK was that the capital return was going to be larger," said Bob Van Munster, head of equities at Tyndall Investment Management. "And then there were some concerns about operational costs. So it's the usual thing of investors getting carried away, expecting more and then getting disappointed," he added.
- REUTERS
