Qantas takes off - and so do the rest

The stockmarket closed in positive territory yesterday on a day headlined by a takeover approach for national carrier Qantas Airways.
The ASX200 index closed 87.7 points higher at 5445.7 and the All Ordinaries rose 83.5 to 5422.8.
Austock Brokers senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said a positive lead from offshore markets and healthy commodity prices set the scene for a strong day.
"The resources were the leading sector of the day, as you would expect with the strong commodity prices, but most sectors were pretty strong," Mr Heffernan said. "If you look at the top 20, they are all in positive territory so that gives you an indication of the strength of the market.
"Qantas lifted off with its takeover approach … a 15 per cent rise for a top 20 stock - there is no question it was the stock of the day."
Qantas shares surged to a 12- month high of $5.25 following the announcement the airline had received a takeover approach from a consortium led by Macquarie Bank and US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group.
Qantas shares closed the day up 65c at $5.00.
Telstra's T3 securities were the most traded stock for the third day running with 181.8 million receipts changing hands worth $412.6 million.
Telstra itself was again not far behind with 134 million shares traded worth $496.1 million. The T3 receipts gained 9c to $2.30 while Telstra was 8c better at $3.72.
Stronger commodity prices boosted the big miners with BHP Billiton gaining 74c to $26.43 and rival Rio Tinto picking up $1.87 to $74.44.
A jump in the oil price buoyed the energy sector with Woodside putting on 47c to $36.99, Santos up 33c to $11.17 and Oil Search rising 8c to $3.34.
Gold closed in Sydney trading at $US627.30 an ounce, up $US4.42 from Tuesday's close.
The goldminers were strong with Newmont rising 10c to $5.85, Newcrest up 24c to $23.24 and Lihir 7c higher at $2.86.
Wheat exporter AWB gained 3c to $2.56 despite posting a 68.4 per cent decline in annual net profit to $58.14 million.
AWB attributed the decline to adverse seasonal conditions and a lower contribution from domestic grain trading, as well as costs associated with the oil-for-food inquiry.
Media was mixed with John Fairfax 15c higher at $5.15, PBL up 36c to $20.66, News Corp shedding 6c to $28.39 and its non-voters down 10c to $27.30.
The banking sector was in positive territory with ANZ up 22c to $28.05, the Commonwealth gaining 45c to $47.65, NAB up 36c at $38.41 and Westpac up 19c to $24.02.
Retail was strong with Harvey Norman gaining 9c to $4.06, Coles up 24c to $13.64 and Woolworths rising 39c to $22.01.