Australian banks, miners take market higher


Australian resources giant BHP Billiton was up 2 percent in early trade Friday

SYDNEY, Australia -- Australian stocks opened higher Friday, with bluechip banks and miners on the rise. Korea was also higher in early trade. Tokyo's market is closed for a national holiday.

In the U.S., Wall Street was closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, leaving Asian markets in fairly quiet territory.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 17.7 points or 0.5 percent to 3341.9, while in Seoul the Kospi was up 6.04 points or almost 1 percent to 630.67.

Elsewhere in the region, New Zealand slipped, with the NZSE Top 40 down 12.03 points or 0.6 percent to 2009.0.

BHP, WMC moving up

Among Australian resources stocks, market heavyweight BHP Billiton rose 2 percent or 19 cents to A$9.76, but competitor Rio Tinto slipped 21 cents to A$34.90.

WMC put on 1.5 percent to A$9.55. Earlier this week it said it had rejected a potential $6 billion takeover bid from aluminium giant and joint venture partner Alcoa, planning instead to split its assets into two companies.

Leading banks NAB, CBA, Westpac and ANZ were all higher, as was media giant News Corp, up 1.1 percent to A$15.02.

Automotive parts maker Pacifica Ltd fell 30 cents or 8.1 percent to A$3.42 after it announced writedowns worth A$81 million.

Qantas Airways lost 1.69 percent, down 7 cents to A$4.06, on worries about oil price rises.

Among Korean stocks, Hynix Semiconductor jumped 4.1 percent to 2015 won and market heavyweight Samsung Electronics added 0.7 percent to 217,500 won.

Telco leader SK Telecom was up slightly, putting on 500 won or 0.2 percent to 270,500 won.