Australia shares jump 3.8 percent on Wall St surge

MELBOURNE, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 3.8 percent on Wednesday, breaking a five-session losing streak after a 10 percent surge on Wall Street, but a belief that the recovery may be short-lived kept gains in check. Heavyweight banks such as National Australia Bank Ltd <NAB.AX> and miners such as Rio Tinto Ltd led the rise, though analysts said that after the mauling over the past week, investors saw Wednesday's jump as a way to cut their losses. "Most of the institutions we've spoken to today, their sell orders outnumber their buy orders," said Aequs Securities dealer Rick Klusman. "A lot of them are so scared about staying in the market they're just looking for trading profits to trade out of them, hence our market is only up 138 points even though the futures were up 234 overnight," said Klusman. By 2356 GMT, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 142.3 points at 3,936.9, recovering from a four-year low hit on Tuesday after a 12 percent slide over the past five sessions. New Zealand's benchmark NZ50 index jumped 3.3 percent to 2,774.8. U.S. stocks got a boost from optimism that the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world would cut interest rates further this week in a bid to support a global economy that is headed towards a deep recession. See for a full report. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Nickel miner Minara Resources soared 38 percent to A$0.46 after saying it would raise A$210 million in a 3-for-2 rights issue, priced at A$0.30, underwritten by its majority shareholder Glencore International. 0016 GMT * Aristocrat Leisure, the world's no.2 slot machine maker, plummeted 28 percent to a 4- year low of A$3.95, after slashing its profit forecast for this year to between A$120 million and A$150 million. It had earlier this year forecast flat earnings around A$247 million. In an announcement released after Tuesday's close, Aristocrat said many operators were deferring buying new slot machines and it also said delays in releasing its new product to market had affected demand for its Generation 7 platform and games. 2350 GMT * Rallying metals prices boosted top miners, with BHP Billiton Ltd up 5 percent to A$26.60 and Rio Tinto up 4.4 percent to A$71.22. 2350 GMT ($1=A$1.54) (Reporting by Sonali Paul) .

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