Rio Tinto placed on trading halt

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Australian based mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) was placed on trading halt on Friday pending a material announcement, the New Zealand stock exchange said.

Shares in the company closed on Thursday at A$51.75.

The company separately had wrapped up one of the world's biggest rights issues on Friday, saying its Australian shareholders had taken up 94.76 percent of their entitlements to the new shares.