Rio leads way down

RIO Tinto shares led a retreat in mining stocks yesterday, with the group’s below-expectation half-year results accelerating a fall renewed USChina trade tensions began.

The mining giant delivered a 33 per cent jump in first-half net profit to $5.9 billion after the close of trade on Wednesday – below expectations of $US4.53 billion, according to estimates in an independent survey of 15 analysts.

The dual-listed group’s underlying earnings rose 12 per cent to $US4.416 billion from $US3.9 billion a year earlier.

Overnight in London, Rio’s shares tumbled 3.4 per cent.

Goldman Sachs analysts said iron ore and aluminium were “the key places where the miss occurred – most exposed to recent cost inflation”. RBC analyst Paul Hissey, said capital returns featured strongly in the results, with Rio announcing an additional $US1 billion London-listed stock buyback.