Bargain hunters curb ASX losses

The sharemarket closed weaker yesterday but managed to claw back sharp early losses to finish only slightly in the red.
The ASX 200 index fell 9.9 points to 4956.2 while the All Ordinaries fell 11.6 to 4932.2.
Man Financial broker Anthony Anderson said the bourse was showing signs of recovery from big hits triggered by outrages in the Middle East.
"My gut feeling is that the worst of it was on Friday," Mr Anderson said. "Once people saw today that there wasn't any massive amount of selling, people thought it might be an opportunity to dip their toes into some quality stocks."
Retail stocks were the big winners of the day, he said.
"We've seen some first pay packets with the new tax rates, and the consumer sector is really one of the strongest features of the market."
Mr Anderson added that commodities stocks had also been saved from big falls by stronger commodities prices.
Coles Myer fell 13c at the opening to $11.32 but finished 15c higher at $11.60. Woolworths gained 21c to $20.02, Harvey Norman rose 13c to $3.69 and Coca-Cola Amatil was up 4c at $7. But David Jones eased 5c to $2.77.
In the resources sector, BHP Billiton closed down 9c at $27.98 but Rio Tinto was 26c higher at $74.31.
Santos rose 9c to $11.86 after boosting its stake in the Cooper Basin joint venture through the $474 million acquisition of Delhi Petroleum. Origin, a junior party in the Cooper Basin joint venture, rose 17c to $7.52.
Woodside climbed 49c to $46.50 and Oil Search lifted 3c to $4.21. Beach Petroleum closed down 5c at $1.70 after hitting a post-1994 high of $1.78.
CuDeco, formerly Australian Mining Investments, plunged $3.55 or 49.9 per cent to $3.56 after the explorer issued a report that roughly halved the inferred resource at its Rocklands copper project in Queensland.
Oil junior Incremental Petroleum jumped 30c to $1.84 after announcing that its Turkish oilfield had proved and probable reserves of 12.04 million barrels.
Coal-seam gas developer Sydney Gas was steady at 27c after appointing Phillip Moore as its new chief executive to replace acting boss Stephen Kwik after a seven-month search.
Shares in Zenyth Therapeutics, the old Amrad, jumped 28.5c or 53 per cent to 82.5c after CSL made a $108 million takeover bid. CSL fell 78c to $50.
Shannon Resources listed at a solid premium after raising $2.6 million in the public issue. The gold explorer opened at 30c, well up on the 20c issue price, and closed at 35c.
Other goldminers rose, with Newmont up 13c to $7.38 and Newcrest 8c firmer at $19.60.
Banks fell, with the Commonwealth off 8c at $43.50, NAB down 11c to $34.25, ANZ 30c weaker at $25 and Westpac 11c lower at $21.60.
In media, PBL edged up 2c to $17.84, Seven slid 20c to $8.45, Ten was steady at $2.93 and John Fairfax eased 5c to $4.05.
Telstra lost 1c to $3.83.
The top traded stock was Empire Oil, up 0.1c to 0.7c, with 19.05 million shares worth $132,058 changing hands.