Australia shares down on miners Arrow falls

SYDNEY, March 22 (Reuters) - Australian stocks fell 0.7 percent on Monday, with miners leading the way on weaker commodity prices, and Arrow Energy (ASX: AOE.ax) , which fell on a lower-than-expected takeover offer.

Arrow Energy fell as much as 4 percent after it said it agreed to a fresh bid from Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L and PetroChina 0857.HK, raised by six percent to A$3.4 billion ($3.1 billion) for its Australian assets. [ID:nSYU009565].

"Clearly there were higher expectations. The stock should slip back quite a bit," said Michael Heffernan, a senior client adviser at Austock Group.

Analyst had expected the final offer to touch at least A$5 a share compared to the revised offer of A$4.70.

At 0021 GMT the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index JO was down 27.33 points at 4,845.30. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 2.86 points to 3,227.54.

STOCKS ON THE MOVE

* BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP.ax) fell 1.5 percent and Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO.ax) dropped 1.2 percent after commodity prices fell on Chinese demand worries. A major risk for industrial metals is the extent and timing of fiscal tightening in China, the world's largest consumer of industrial metals. Another worry for investors is a cyclone that hit the Queensland coast over the weekend, halting operations at ports.

0030 GMT

* Top banks fell after worries about Greece's debt and the euro zone's help weighed. Global economic woes add to banks cost of funds. Top lender National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB.ax) , which said it is advanced talks with AXA SA AXAF.PA and AXA Asia Pacific (ASX: AXA.ax) for a $12 billion takeover plan, was flat.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA.ax) , Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC.ax) and Australia New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ.ax) all fell between 0.4 and 0.6 percent.

0028 GMT

* AXA Asia Pacific was higher by 0.2 percent after it said that takeover talks with NAB and its parent were in advanced stages. [ID:nSGE62K02M]

0026 GMT

* Telstra Corp Ltd (ASX: TLS.ax) extended gains after debate on a government plan seeking to break up the phone company was put off until May or even June. [ID:nSGE62H0LP] Its shares were up 0.3 percent at a$3.18.

0028 GMT (Reporting by Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Balazs Koranyi)

More Quotes and Company Information:ANDEAN RESOURCES LIMITED (ASX: AND.ax)ARROW ENERGY NL(ASX: AOE.ax)AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED(ASX: ANZ.ax)AXA ASIA PACIFIC HOLDINGS LIMITED(ASX: AXA.ax)BHP BILLITON(ASX: BHP.ax)COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA.(ASX: CBA.ax)NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED(ASX: NAB.ax)RIO TINTO LIMITED(ASX: RIO.ax)TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED.(ASX: TLS.ax)WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION(ASX: WBC.ax) ... read original article
Mon 22nd March 2010 - 11:58am