Market regains lost ground

The resource and banking sectors surged back into favour on Friday, lifting the sharemarket 1.5 per cent as bargain hunters swooped after taking heavy losses earlier in the week.
The two heavyweight sectors, spurred on by strong Asian bourses and a lift on Wall Street on Thursday, helped push the market back above 5000 points.
The ASX 200 index rose 76.9 points to 5053.7 and the All Ordinaries 75.3 points to 5014.7.
For the week the ASX 200 fell 47.2 points and the All Ords 46.5 points.
ABN Amro Morgan client adviser Margaret Morrissey warned that the volatility in the market could continue over the next month as investors moved to crystallise tax losses by the end of the financial year.
"The volatility still remains at this stage," Ms Morrissey said. "There was a lot of stock picking today after the market's fall in recent times."
BHP Billiton rose 4 per cent or $1.10 to $28.55 and Rio Tinto 4.6 per cent or $3.56 to $80.41. Oil and gas producer Woodside surged $1.10 to $44.10.
Westpac rose 48c to $23.33, National Australia Bank 52c to $35.75, Commonwealth Bank 41c to $44.40 and ANZ 34c to $26.77.
Gold stocks were also stronger after the price of the metal bounced.
The spot price in Sydney closed at $US650.60 an ounce, up $US4.90 on Thursday's close.
Newcrest Mining rose 49c to $20.65, Newmont 18c to $6.80 and Lihir Gold 21c to $2.97.
Telstra fell 1c to $3.78 and Optus owner Singapore Telecom rose 2c to $2.13.
Retailers were weaker. Coles Myer fell 8c to $11.16 and Woolworths slipped 6c to $18.90.
Woolworths this week named supermarket lieutenant Michael Luscombe as successor to retiring chief executive Roger Corbett.
Upmarket retailer David Jones eased 2c to $2.78 while Harvey Norman rose 9c to $3.93.
Shares in clothing and footwear company Colorado lost 5c to $3.37. The company is set to announce a new chief executive by the end of July as it rearranges its internal structure to overcome a poor 2005-06 result.
Babcock & Brown surged $1.17 to $19.97 after the investment firm upgraded its guidance for earnings growth this financial year to 35 per cent from 20 per cent.
AGL lifted 26c to $17.01 while Alinta eased 2c to $10.28 as the competition watchdog said it expected to make a decision on the energy groups' proposed merger next month.
Seven Network was steady at $8.30 after confirming it had signed a long-term partnership with V8 Supercars for the broadcast television rights to the championship series.
BHP was the most traded stock on the market. More than 41.85 million of its shares changed hands for a total value of $1.13 billion.