Australia shares start year on cautious note
(Adds analysis, quotes, stocks on the move)
By Cecile Lefort
SYDNEY, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Australian shares opened on a cautious note in light post-holiday trade on Friday, with investors concerned about the health of the global economy as the European Central Bank chief said the bank stood ready to respond to deflation risks.
The S&P/ASX 200 index held steady at 5,416.4 points by 0206 GMT in the first trading day of 2015, with many investors yet to return from their New Year holidays.
The benchmark rose a mere 1 percent in 2014 compared with the robust gains in the previous two years, largely due to the tumble in commodity prices in recent months.
Miners were in the black, supported by last week's bounce in prices of iron ore, Australia's top export earner. Atlas Iron led the charge with a 33 percent rise, while Fortescue Metals Group rose 4.3 percent and Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) was up 0.6 percent.
"Investors may have felt the price of Atlas Iron fell too far (last year). It was one of the worst performers in the ASX 200 - down 85 percent- and there may be some repositioning," said Juliana Roadley, market analyst at Commonwealth Securities.
Tiger Resources (Other OTC: TRSDF - news) jumped 6 percent after a media report quoted the company head as saying the copper miner had options to refinance short-term debt.
The energy sector was also stronger with Whitehaven and Drillsearch both up more than 2 percent.
The "big four" banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Other OTC: CBAUF - news) , Westpac Banking Corp, ANZ Banking Group and National Australia Bank - were slightly lower.
New Zealand markets were closed on Friday. (Editing by Ryan Woo)