The week ahead with Janine Perrett
There's no sign that the new season will be any less stormy both here and abroad.
Close The Australian sharemarket has closed about 1 per cent higher, driven by higher commodities prices and led by gains among most major banks and energy companies.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 48.8 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 4686.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 43.8 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 4694.9 points.
Among sub-indexes, financials gained 1 per cent, energy shares were 0.8 per cent higher and materials rose 0.7 per cent.
News today included a gauge of monthly inflation easing in February, although the Reserve Bank is still expected to raise interest rates tomorrow.
need2know:
- Asian shares boosted by metal prices
- The dollar slips below 90 US cents on China data
- Gold rises to $US1120 on bargain-hunting
- Oil climbs back above $US80 on demand hopes
- Dow futures are 46 points higher at 10,357
CMC markets market analyst David Taylor said early trading was largely driven by a lift in commodities prices. A higher oil price coming off the back of data on US gross domestic product boosted energy stocks Woodside Petroleum and Santos.
‘‘It was a broad-based rally despite a very weak lead from the US. It seemed to be commodities-driven, but that said, after energy, it was the consumer staples and healthcare sectors that were the big winners,’’ Mr Taylor said. ‘‘The market’s stride has narrowed a bit in the wake of reporting season and we’re looking in the medium term at the (interest) rates decision (on Tuesday) and economic data.
‘‘I think the market is just composing itself after a pretty good reporting season.’’
Rio ups stake
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton sagged 12 cents to $40.98. Rio Tinto added 90 cents to $71.40 as it beefed up its stake in Ivanhoe Mines as part of a deal to develop the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in the Gobi desert. Ivanhoe was 8 cents richer at $3.18.
Woodside Petroleum was 10 cents stronger at $43.47 and Santos gained 14 cents to $13.10.
Among the major banks, National Australia Bank lifted 17 cents to $25.61, ANZ Banking Group rose 45 cents to $23.59, Commonwealth Bank advanced 53 cents to $54.45 and Westpac put on 40 cents at $26.53.
In the gold sector, Lihir rose 9 cents to $2.74 and Newcrest strengthened 80 cents to $32.14.
Telco Telstra slipped three cents to $2.94 and Optus-owner Singapore Telecommunications nudged up 1 cent to $2.41.
Retailer Woolworths surged 70 cents to $27.54 and Wesfarmers, which owns Coles, was up $1.47 to $32.60.
In the media sector, News Corp was 10 cents higher at $17.70 and its non-voting stock found 1 cent to $15.03. Consolidated Media was up 8 cents to $3.20 and Fairfax gained 1.5 cents to $1.665.
Lend Lease falls
Property developer Lend Lease Group was 6.22 cents poorer at $9.28 as it gears up for the second part of its equity raising, after it raised $434 million from its institutional component.
The top-traded stock by volume was Macquarie Office Trust, with 333.3 million shares worth $101.26 million changing hands. Macquarie Office was steady at 28 cents.
Preliminary national turnover was 2.46 billion shares worth $5.24 billion, with 561 stocks up, 459 down and 360 unchanged.
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