It's after a good lunch that the bargains appear
The stockmarket inched forward yesterday, with a late recovery led by the big financial and media stocks.
The benchmark ASX200 index closed up 5.5 points at 5184.3 after diving 26 points in the morning. The All Ordinaries was 2.5 points stronger at 5141.2.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract ended day trading 7 points lower at 5193 on a volume of 16,697 contracts.
The local bourse overcame a weak start to end the day on a high, said Bell Potter senior adviser Stuart Smith.
"We went to water this morning but then the market decided it had had enough on the downside," Mr Smith said.
"Bearing in mind that the market has been down for 20 weeks, sometimes we can't help ourselves when we see bargains and I think it is definitely bargain-hunting time.
"I'm confident that the market is about to make a technical break on the upside."
Insurer Suncorp-Metway was the leader of the financial pack, gaining 41c, or 1.87 per cent, to $22.35, its highest ever.
Also stronger were Macquarie Bank, rising 12c to $69.54, Publishing and Broadcasting , 29c to $19, and Fairfax 9c to $4.21.
Two Australian online gaming companies were savaged by the market after the US passed laws that will effectively ban some forms of internet betting.
Both earn much of their revenues in the US market.
Betcorp shortened $1.065, or 56.7 per cent, to 81.5c, and online casino operator Lasseters lost 3.7c, or 51.4 per cent, to 3.5c.
Recently listed CentreBet slid 5c to $1.63 although its customers will be untouched by the new laws. The shares, issued at $1.80, opened at $1.55.
The major banks were also firmer, with the CBA up 21c to $46.11, ANZ 18c to $27.13, St George 16c to $30.50 and NAB 15c to $36.95.
Westpac also rose, increasing 7c to $22.88.
The major resources stocks were mixed. BHP Billiton gained 10c to $25.95 but Rio Tinto slipped 30c to $70 and oil and gas company Woodside $1.15 to $38.55. Santos fell 19c to $10.97 and Oil Search 7c to $3.36.
Retail stocks too were mixed, with Woolworths up 21c to $20.58, Coles Myer gaining 5c to $14.45, David Jones slipping 2c to $3.55 and Harvey Norman 8c weaker at $3.51. Miller's Retail gained 3.5c to $1.625 and the ever reliable Noni B finished unchanged at $4.16.
Telstra gained 4c to $3.74 and rival Optus owner Singtel slipped 2c to $2.04.
Warehouse rose a further 16c to a record $5.80 to continue its run since Woolworths bought into the company.
In the gold sector, Lihir fell 3c to $2.88, Newmont was unchanged at $5.80 and Newcrest slipped 13c to $22.15. Bendigo was up 2c at $1.395 and Chinese tenement holder Sino Gold was down 10c at $4.14.
Gold closed in Sydney trading at $US596.70 per fine ounce, down $US5.18 on Monday's close.
The most actively traded stock by volume was West Australian gold explorer Anglo Australian, with 29.17 million shares worth $2.18 million changing hands. Anglo shares edged up 0.6c to 7.7c. It's been on a run since last Tuesday, when it told the ASX there was nothing specific it could blame for the sudden interest, which has been sustained since then.
Building material stocks held up fairly well despite the worse-than-expected home approval figures. CSR was down 4c at $3.01 and Boral lost just a penny to close at $7.14.
Gold Coast developer Sunland jumped 13c to a year's high of $2.59, possibly on speculation approval of its $125 million Dubai development is on the way.

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