Close Australian shares racked up another 0.2 per cent, in a roller-coaster day that had the market struggling to hang on to initial strong gains.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 9.9 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 4863.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 10.8 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 4877.7.
Among the sectors, financials gained 0.4 per cent, energy 0.3 per cent and materials 0.2 per cent.
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‘‘Whilst the market has been rallying in recent days, volumes have been far from convincing, suggesting there’s not the weight of money to push the market much higher,’’ Mr Potter said. ‘‘Having said that, there are a lot of participants calling for a pullback given the recent strength.’’
Rio Tinto was 29 cents higher at $76.99. Fellow mining giant BHP Billiton was down 14 cents to $43.16, after saying it was cautious about the state of the world economy and warned governments to be careful about tax changes and winding back stimulus packages.
Telstra was 4 cents or 1.3 per cent higher at $3.17 while Singapore Telecommunications, the owner of Optus was 2 cents lower at $2.49.
In the energy sector, Woodside was 45 cents stronger at $46.25, Oil Search inched 1 cent lower to $5.87 and Santos fell 12 cents to $14.22.
AGL Energy was 9 cents firmer $14.97 and Origin Energy gave up 15 cents to $16.50.
Kathmandu soars
Making headlines, Kathmandu confirmed guidance for full year earnings after a less-than-expected net loss of $NZ11.3 million ($8.75 million) in its inaugural half year as a listed company after counting the cost of its initial public offering. Shares in the adventure and travel products retailer leapt 17 cents, or 9.8 per cent, to $1.91.
Sigma Pharmaceuticals says it’s unlikely to be able to pay a dividend in the second half of its fiscal year due to a material reduction in the carrying amount of goodwill and writedowns.
Sigma has been suspended from trading since March 1, when it traded last at 90 cents.
Internet service provider iiNet says it is confident it will not only succeed in defending an appeal in its court stoush over illegal downloading but that it will emerge in an even stronger position. Shares in iiNet were steady at $2.45.
Supermarkets rise
Among retailers, Coles owner Wesfarmers inched 1 cent higher to $31.11, Woolworths was 4 cents firmer at $28.76 and upmarket department store chain David Jones eased 4 cents to $5.09.
In the consumer discretionary space, Coca Cola Amatil put on 8 cents to $11.24.
Key gold mining stocks were mixed. Lihir was up 4 cents at $3.15 while Newcrest retreated 16 cents to $33.97.
The top-traded stock by volume was Telstra, with 117.7 million shares worth $374.3 million changing hands.
Preliminary market turnover was 2.7 billion shares worth almost $7 billion, with 556 stocks up, 485 down and 413 unchanged.
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AAP, with BusinessDay
