Rally continues overseas
Overnight rises on the US and European markets will get our market off to a good start today.
Close Australian shares ended the day higher for the seventh consecutive day, the longest winning streak since December 2004, led by miners.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 17.8 points or 0.4 per cent at 4068.5, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 20.6 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 4068.9 points. It was the highest close for the ASX200 since November 10.
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"There's incredible strength in this market," said Lucinda Chan at Macquarie Equities.
"The momentum is there: we had the Reserve Bank on the economy yesterday and the jobs numbers have been better than expected...people are prepared to put their money to work," Ms Chan said.
By sector, materials gained 1.2 per cent, while energy added 0.7 per cent, while financials lost 0.5 per cent.
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- The dollar extended its gains after a low CPI result
- Oil retreats on inventory worries
- Gold retreats as greenback strengthens
CommSec market analyst Juliette Saly said investors had welcomed news that the annual inflation rate in Australia had fallen to a 10-year low.
Most energy stocks appreciated on the back of a firmer oil price, Ms Saly said.
Woodside was up 51 cents at $43.85 and Santos gained 21 cents to $14.82 but Oil Search shed eight cents to $5.50.
Mining giant BHP Billiton reported a ''solid'' production performance in 2008/09, despite ''significant demand contraction'' in a weak global economy.
Shares in BHP Billiton were up 71 cents at $36.90, while Rio Tinto gained 89 cents at $55.81.
''We have seen a bit of weakness come through from the banks today, with the National Australia Bank (NAB) tapping the market for cash,'' Ms Saly said.
NAB raising
NAB is raising $2.75 billion in new capital and earmarked the proceeds for maintaining its balance sheet, pursuing growth and improving its position in the small-to-medium sized enterprises market.
''It (the NAB raising) sent a few jitters among investors who wondered how the financial sector is holding up and whether or not other banks will have to do the same,'' Ms Saly said.
''Yesterday, Westpac's Gail Kelly said the financial sector was still facing another challenging 18 months, so Westpac shares are definitely under pressure today.''
Westpac gave up 49 cents at $19.82, Commonwealth Bank was down 65 cents at $39.10 and ANZ added 13 cents to $16.90. NAB was in a trading halt and last traded at $23.58.
Solid sales growth for Woolies
Making headlines on Wednesday, leading supermarket chain Woolworths reported ''solid'' growth in full-year sales, up 7.5 per cent in 2008/09.
Shares in Woolworths slipped 12 cents to $27.58.
Among other retailers, Coles owner Wesfarmers advanced 48 cents to $24.56, David Jones found 19 cents to $4.86, JB Hi-Fi gained 61 cents to $16.40 and Harvey Norman eased eight cents to $3.18.
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1618 AEST was $US948.70 per fine ounce, up 25 US cents on Tuesday's close of $US948.45.
Among gold miners, Newcrest was down 57 cents at $30.39, Newmont was up three cents at $5.15 and Lihir Gold backtracked five cents to $2.86.
Media mixed
Media stocks were mixed. Fairfax put on three cents at $1.375, News Corp retreated seven cents to $13.92, its non-voting scrip was 11 cents cheaper at $11.90 and Consolidated Media was six cents stronger at $2.72.
The top-traded stock by volume was diamond and gold miner North Australian with 168.48 million shares worth $2.52 million changing hands.
Its shares were unchanged at 1.5 cents.
Preliminary market turnover was 2.13 billion shares worth $4.41 billion, with 547 stocks up, 451 down and 344 unchanged.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange at 1617 AEST, the September share price index contract had inched two points higher at 4,031 points on 20,372 contracts.
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AAP, with Chris Zappone, BusinessDay and Reuters
