Australia shares shored up by Amcor, Macarthur
MELBOURNE: Australian stocks were flat in early trade on Monday despite global concerns, shored up by better-than-expected results and a buyback from packaging group Amcor and talk of a potential bidding war for Macarthur Coal.
Amcor was the biggest gainer in the top 200 stocks, surging 7 percent.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index lost just 1.5 points to 4,100.5 as of 0012 GMT.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index lost 2.7 points to 3,265.1.
BlueScope Steel , which is struggling with a high Australian dollar and soaring iron ore and coal costs, fell 5.7 percent after it announced a big net loss on Monday, the closure of one of its blast furnaces and the loss of 1,000 jobs.
Takeover target Macarthur Coal jumped 2.5 percent after media reports that Anglo American is considering bidding against Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal's $5 billion offer.
Copyright Reuters, 2011
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