Australian Stocks: Amcor, Coalspur Mines, Fairfax, Macquarie

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 1.3 to 4,405.40 at 10:42 a.m. in Sydney. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index gained 1.1 percent to 3,339.12 in Wellington.

The following were among the most active shares in the market today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.

Mining stocks: The London Metal Exchange Index of prices for six metals, including copper and aluminum, gained 4.8 percent yesterday.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) , the world’s No. 1 mining company, rose 2.1 percent to A$39.15. Rio Tinto Group (RIO AU), the second-largest global miner by sales, added 2.6 percent to A$71.54.

Amcor Ltd. (AMC AU) slid 2.6 percent to A$7.15. Australia’s biggest packaging company was downgraded to “neutral” from “overweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Coalspur Mines Ltd. (CPL) surged 6.4 percent to A$1.915. The coal explorer, which operates in Canada, said it had secured a 14-year port allocation in British Columbia, starting in 2015, for up to 8.5 million tonnes per year.

Fairfax Media Ltd. (FXJ) climbed 2.8 percent to 93 Australian cents. The media company said it will retain its metropolitan radio assets, scrapping earlier plans to sell them.

Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG) jumped 4.5 percent to A$25.44. Australia’s biggest investment bank said it would buy back as much as 10 percent of its shares.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nichola Saminather in Sydney at nsaminather1@bloomberg.net

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