(BN) Australian Stocks Fall as Commodity Prices Decline; Japanese Futures Gain

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Australian Stocks Fall on Oil Price; Japanese Futures Advance

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Australian stocks fell after commodity prices declined, while Japanese stock futures rose.

Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia's largest gold producer, slumped 1.6 percent in Sydney as the price of the metal dropped. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia's No. 2 oil and gas producer, lost as much as 0.3 percent after crude prices retreated on Oct. 15. American depositary receipts of Honda Motor Co., a Japanese carmaker that makes more than 80 percent of its sales abroad, rose 0.6 percent from the last closing share price in Tokyo.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.1 percent today. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index climbed 0.3 percent in Wellington. Futures on Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in December closed at 9,560 in Chicago on Oct. 15, compared with 9,520 in Singapore. They were bid in the pre-market at 9,550 in Osaka, Japan, at 8:05 a.m. local time today.

"The stock market will likely trade sideways," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, a general manager at Tokyo-based Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co.

Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were little changed. The index rose 0.2 percent on Oct. 15 in New York as companies such as Google Inc. fueled a rally in technology shares that helped offset a decline in bank shares and an unexpected drop in consumer confidence.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has risen 8.8 percent this year on speculation growth in corporate profits will weather Europe's debt crisis, Chinese steps to curb property-price inflation and concern about the pace of the U.S. economic rebound. Stocks in the gauge trade at 14.3 times estimated profit on average, compared with 14 times for the S&P 500 and 12.2 times for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

Crude oil for November delivery declined 1.7 percent on Oct. 15 in New York to $81.25 a barrel, the lowest settlement this month. The London Metal Exchange Index of six metals including aluminum and copper slipped 0.4 percent on Oct. 15, the biggest drop since Oct. 7. The Baltic Dry Index of shipping rates for commodities fell for the first time in four days on Oct. 15.

To contact the reporters for this story: Norie Kuboyama in Tokyo at nkuboyama@bloomberg.net Toshiro Hasegawa in Tokyo at thasegawa6@bloomberg.net .

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net .

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Víctor Lei