Friday, February 02, 2007

Just for the record, it's yet another record

The sharemarket climbed further into record territory, buoyed by a solid lead from Wall Street and a strong performance by BHP Billiton.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index moved up 17.4 points to a record close at 5831.5 after reaching 5841.3, which broke Wednesday's intraday record.
It was the benchmark's fourth straight weekly rise. It has gained 161.6 points, or 2.8 per cent, this year — of which, by chance, 61.6 points were added this week.
Trading got off to a Le Mans start after Wall Street's Dow Jones rose 51.99 points to 12,673.68, its fifth record this year, and the S&P 500 Index climbed to a six-year high. Buyers were heartened by data showing the US economy was gaining strength without spurring inflation.
Back home, solid gains by BHP and pharmaceutical manufacturer CSL counteracted losses from Rio Tinto, which was the biggest drag on the index.
Rio Tinto slipped $1.05 to $77.24 while BHP Billiton put on 34¢ to $26.59. Rio's second-half profit fell short of analyst estimates and the increase in its dividend was less than some investors expected.
"The global growth outlook is fine, and you're seeing BHP responding to that," said Gary Armor, of AMP in Sydney. "But I really was disappointed with Rio's dividend, where I thought they could have given us some more cash back."
The energy sector was mixed after the spot price of West Texas crude fell US84¢ to $US57.30 a barrel following sharp rises in the previous two sessions. Woodside rose 13¢ to $37.48, Santos shed a further 11¢ to $9.07 and Oil Search dropped 7¢ to $3.53.
The banks were little changed, NAB edging up 2¢ to $40.80, Commonwealth firming 2¢ to $50.34, ANZ slipping 9¢ to $29.41 and Westpac steady at $25.40.
QBE Insurance rose 33¢ to $31.23 after its acquisition of Mexican commercial lines insurer Seguros Cumbre SA.
Shares in pharmaceutical manufacturer CSL put on $1.80 to $70.50 after it signed an agreement with Bayer to supply a new hemophilia treatment.
Qantas finished 2¢ higher at $5.39 after the private equity consortium seeking to take over the airline ruled out increasing its share offer in its formal Bidder's Statement.
Media stocks were stronger. PBL rose 17¢ to $20.10, Fairfax put on 6¢ to $5 and News Corp's non-voting shares climbed 13¢ to $29.98 as the voting scrip firmed 5¢ to $31.55.

Among the retailers, Coles rose 11¢ to $14.25 and Woolworths picked up 1¢ to $24.25.
Leighton Holdings gained $1.37, or 6.1 per cent, to $23.75. ABN Amro Holding raised its recommendation to "buy", saying Leighton's acquisition of residential developer Devine on Thursday would help it benefit from a forecast housing recovery.
CuDeco slumped 47¢, or 11 per cent, to $3.95. The company replied on Thursday to a stock exchange query about a 13 per cent jump in its stock, saying it could not account for the rise. Yesterday it denied that it was in takeover talks.
Sydney Roads Group, the target of a takeover bid by Transurban Group, was the day's most traded stock, with 61.4 million shares worth $81.2 million changing hands. It closed up 0.5¢ at $1.325.
Gold rose again but goldminers were mixed. Newcrest gained 16¢ to $21.31, Newmont dropped 8¢ to $5.80 and Lihir slipped 3¢ to $3.15. At the close, the spot price of gold was up $US2.90 at $US656.50.
Market turnover reached 1.57 billion worth $5.34 billion, with 662 stocks moving up, 544 moving down and 365 unchanged.
The dollar resumed its slump against the US dollar, with traders showing disappointment with Australia's wider than expected trade deficit.
At 5pm the Aussie was at US77.28¢, down from Thursday's close of US77.51¢ and from US77.44¢ at the end of last week.
The fall — its ninth in the past 10 days — was in reaction to news that energy and metals exports had not been enough to temper the 57th consecutive monthly trade deficit.
"Its disappointing that the trade deficit is running well over $1 billion," said Grange Securities economist Stephen Roberts. "(It's) taking a long time for net exports to make a consistent contribution."

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