Monday, November 27, 2006

It's out of banks and back into resources

The sharemarket closed flat yesterday as investors switched from banks into resources to cash in on stronger commodity prices.
The ASX200 index closed down 1.4 points at 5,452.2, while the All Ordinaries was up 1.1 at 5,432.5.
ABN Amro Morgans client adviser Margaret Morrissey said base metals, gold and oil had all been stronger at the end of last week.
"People switched out of the financial stocks back into the resource sector because of the jump in metal prices," Ms Morrissey said.
BHP Billiton firmed 10c to $26.22 while Rio Tinto put on 13c to $74.55.
Zinc and lead miner Zinifex, which retreated 23c to $16.47, said it might improve on last year's record net profit if zinc prices stayed at current high levels.
In the oils, Woodside was up 33c, or almost 1 per cent, to $36.47 and Oil Search rose 2c to $3.29. But Santos was off 14c to $10.29 and Beach down 4.5c to $1.40.
The four major banks were all weaker, led down by the ANZ which fell 17c to $27.96.
National Australia Bank was 16c poorer at $38.30, the Commonwealth eased 13c to $47.68 while Westpac was 7c worse off at $24.24.
Australia's fifth biggest bank, St George, bucked the trend, rising 30c to $33.85. Both Bank of Queensland and Bendigo Bank were down 14c, BoQ to $15.33 and Bendigo to $13.97. Wide Bay was up 1c at $12.51.
All the major media stocks headed south except for deemed takeover prospect John Fairfax which gained 3c to $5.10.
News Corp lost 37c to $27.98 while its non voting scrip reversed 43c to $26.80.
PBL was 18c weaker at $21.03.
In retail, Coles Group celebrated the decree nisi from Myer with a 4c rise to $13.63 while supermarket rival Woolworths pulled back 15c to $21.49.
Telstra backtracked 2c to $3.69 as did its instalment receipts, to $2.24.
AWB put on 6c to $2.86 despite all the bad publicity, though mostly about former executives.
Australia's biggest barley producer, ABB Grain, which announced a 60 per cent increase in annual net profit, was rewarded with a 15c lift to $6.48.
Gaming group Tabcorp Holdings, which said it was expecting a flat first half for the year, tumbled 18c to $16.59.
The price of gold in Sydney was up $US8.90 at $US640.50 per fine ounce just near the close.
Goldminers rose accordingly, with Newcrest Mining jumping 68c to $25.05, Newmont firming 2c to $5.90 and Lihir Gold rising 15c to $3.05.
The most traded stock was Perth explorer Western Metals, which has joined the uranium rush in Tanzania,with 122.5 million shares changing hands for a total of $11.9 million.
The stock gained 0.3c to 9.2c after hitting a 52-week high of 11c.
Market turnover reached 1.69 billion shares worth a total of $3.78 billion, with 640 stocks moving up, 560 falling and 324 unchanged.

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