Market hits six-week high as October blues disappear

The sharemarket continued its upward march this week as inflationary fears faded with oil prices falling.
The ASX 200 index closed on a six-week high of 4574.3, up 30.6 points on Friday and 54.8 points on the week, and the All Ordinaries gained 24.5 points to 4516.8 on Friday, with a weekly gain of 48.5 points.
"The last week or two has seen [a] recovery in our market and this week in particular we've seen some added stability," said Jamie Spiteri from Shaw Stockbroking.
Oil prices fell 7 per cent through the week, bringing a boost to local market confidence as fears of inflation subsided, Mr Spiteri said.
The financial sector drove the market with all the major banks making gains on Friday, including NAB which regained some of its lost ground after its mixed results on Wednesday. National Australia Bank closed up 26c to $32.78 on Friday but down 61c for the week.
The market ended the week on a positive note with some key stocks at week-long highs, including Macquarie Bank at $70, up $1.67 on Friday and $2.80 in the week.
Telstra also finished at its high point at $4.32, up 8c in the day and 12c in the week, as investors marked time waiting for chief executive Sol Trujillo's strategic review on Tuesday when big staff cuts are expected.
Oil producers were the obvious losers as prices tumbled. Woodside Petroleum lost $1.35 on Friday and $1.84 in the week to close at $31.80.
Eric Betts from Nomura Australia said: "We have continued our rebound from our October blues."
The Reserve Bank had given added stability with its policy announcement this week, suggesting a neutral outlook on interest rates, Mr Betts said.
"The Reserve Bank's Monday statement on monetary policy was their chance to fire a warning shot if they wanted to but they didn't," he said. "So I take that silence to mean that they didn't really want to give any warning [about raising rates].
"They are alert but not alarmed about the inflation risk."
Labour figures this week showed softening employment, particularly in NSW, which might have deterred the Reserve Bank from cranking up interest rates, Mr Betts said.
Other news included positive consumer confidence figures which could be attributed to the easing oil price, Mr Betts said. "The domestic economy is going OK. It is not really strong, it is not really soft."
Australian companies are coming to the end of their reporting and annual meeting announcements, so domestic news to guide the market will be scarce for the rest of the year.
"We are going to be governed a lot by what goes on overseas [such as] oil prices and US interest rates, because we are not really moving," Mr Betts said.