Solid increases across the board

Shares ended stronger on Thursday as most sectors posted solid gains.
The ASX 200 closed 93.8 points higher at 5955.7, while the All Ordinaries was up 89.1 to 5935.4.
"It has strengthened solidly across the latter part of the session," CMC Markets analyst David Land said.
"It's been a fairly universal movement higher, with good movements out of stocks like BHP and the big banks," he said.
The world's biggest miner, BHP Billiton swelled 49c to $29.26, while Rio Tinto was up 91c to $77.01.
Commonwealth Bank advanced 51c to $50.15, NAB was ahead 61c at $40.73, Westpac firmed 43c to $26.25 and ANZ rose 44c to $29.44. St George was up 55c at $34.70.
Bendigo Bank grew 28c to $17.38 and would-be acquirer Bank of Queensland was 13c stronger at $17.05.
Among the insurers, QBE was up 54c to $32.25, though it has been higher. IAG was up 19c to $5.94 and even the good old AMP was up 24c to $10.40. AXA Asia Pacific was up 21c to $7.48.
"It's been a pretty big run up … so I wouldn't be surprised if we see a cooler day [on Friday]," Mr Land said.
Spot gold in Sydney closed $US4.45 higher at $US663.90 per fine ounce. Goldminers followed the price of gold higher, with Lihir picking up 6c to $3.23, Newcrest improving 78c to $23.13 but Newmont was down 3c to $5.44.
Emperor was up 2.5c to 12.5c on news it may have sold the closed Vatukoula mine, now occupied by the Fijian Army.
Coles shares lifted 30c to $15.98 amid expectations that Australia's second-biggest retailer would unveil break-up plans when it releases its interim earnings results next week.
Coles is believed to have marked its separate businesses for sale and added a 30 per cent premium to their sale price.
Larger rival Woolworths fell 23c to $27.42 but up-market department chain David Jones gained 20c to $4.65.
The local bourse was dealt a positive lead from Wall Street, with US stocks surging more than 1 per cent on news the Federal Reserve was leaving interest rates unchanged and saying the American economy would probably continue expanding at a moderate pace. This has renewing market hopes for a rate cut.
Qantas was 7c richer at $5.22 as doubts about the private equity bid faded.
The ALP's plans for broadband heartened telecom investors and Telstra rose 9c to $4.44 with the partly paids up 8c at $2.98. Optus's owner, SingTel, was up 7c to $2.65 and Telecom NZ had a good day, up 10c to $4.15.
Media also had a positive day, PBL adding 44c to $19.34, News Corp swelling 29c to $30.69 and its non-voters up 33c to $28.89. Fairfax advanced 13c to $4.76. Ten Network was up 5c to $3.20. Two media stocks under bids were higher: Rural Press was up 23c to $13.13 and APN was up 3c to $5.83.
The most traded stock of the day was nickel and cobalt hopeful Jervois Mining with 215 million shares worth $5.89 million changing hands. The stock ended 0.6c lower at 2.6c after the company said it had terminated proposed merger talks with UNSW tech company (it has a process to extract metals from sulphides) Intec. Intec finished down a ha'penny at 17.5c.
Market turnover was 2.02 billion shares worth a total of $6.4 billion.

Shares stuck in mud of a weaker property sector

The stockmarket closed lower yesterday after dropping away in afternoon trading, pulled down by a weaker property sector.
It fell despite a positive lead from US, European and Japanese markets and a positive performance by miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
"We saw quite a bit of pressure on some of the bigger names in the property sector, which was where most of the negative focus came from," CMC Markets market analyst David Land said.
It appeared that investors believed that stocks in the property sector were fully valued, he said.
The spectre of higher interest rates could also be weighing upon the property sector.
Mr Land said there also appeared to be investor resistance once the major market indices reached 5900 points.
"Today and yesterday, we had pretty decent leads and our market hasn't been able to carry on," he said.
The ASX200 closed 14.7 points lower at 5861.9 while the All Ordinaries was down 10.2 points to 5846.3.
Punters on the Sydney Futures Exchange kept their optimism even as the June share price index contract closed down 12 points at 5910; still, that's 48 points over the physical.
In the property sector, Westfield Group fell 46c to $20.35, Stockland was down 10c at $8.40, Gandel Group's CFS Retail off 6c at $2.22, GPT off 7c at $4.85, and Macquarie Goodman reversed 16c to $7.09.
Global miner BHP Billiton was 9c better at $28.77 and Rio Tinto improved 55c to $76.10.
Woodside Petroleum was 15c weaker at $35.95, Santos steady at $9.54, and Oil Search a penny richer at $3.43.
The big banks were mixed. NAB was down 1c at $40.12, the Commonwealth up 13c at $49.64, Westpac up 9c at $25.82, and the ANZ down 2c at $29.00.
Target Bendigo Bank sagged 5c to $17.10 as it weighed up a $2.5 billion offer from Bank of Queensland, itself up 7c to 6.92.
Leading Lloyd's member QBE was up 27c to $31.71, having raised $452 million from dividend reinvestment and underwriting arrangements to help fund two recent acquisitions in the US.
AXA Asia Pacific too was up, 8c to $7.27, but AMP was down a deaner to $10.16 and IAG off 6c at $5.75.
Upmarket department store chain David Jones reversed 3c to $4.45 despite posting a 30 per cent lift in first-half profit. Coles rose 4c to $15.68 and Woolworths shed 15c to $27.65.

Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd stepped up 15c to $18.90 and Fairfax gave away 2c to $4.63. News Corp eased 9c to $30.40 while its non-voting stock was off 20c at $28.56.
Telstra was 1c higher at $4.35, the partly paids up 3c at $2.90, and Optus's owner, SingTel, down 2c to $2.58.
NBN owner SP Telemedia gained 3.5c to 80c as it said it would try to aggressively expand its broadband internet and mobile phone services this year.
Spot gold finished in Sydney at $659.45, up $4.32 on Tuesday's close. Lihir Gold firmed 1c to $3.17, Newmont was up 2c to $5.47 but Newcrest descended 29c to $22.35.
Newly listed Kimberley explorer 3D Resources closed at 20.5c, 0.5c above its issue price, having opened at 25c.
National carrier Qantas nudged up 1c to $5.15 as it said its regional operator, QantasLink, would expand its fleet of Boeing 717-200s to increase services.
Shares in Smorgon Steel jumped 12.5c to $2.05, Bluescope rose 6c to $9.84, and OneSteel fell 8c to $5.10 following the agreement which will allow a merger of OneSteel and Smorgon to help the sector fend off from competition from Asian steel producers.
Turnover was 1.75 billion worth $5.03 billion, with 532 up, 656 down and 356 unchanged.

Good influences kick shares along

VOLATILITY's the word. After Wednesday's massacre the stockmarket closed sharply higher yesterday, boosted by gains on US markets, buying opportunities and more good employment figures.
Global miner BHP Billiton and the banks led the locals forward.
"There's been a very broad-based rally. Everything in the big end is very strong," CMC Markets analyst David Land said.
"The movement is very strong and probably greater than the things that have been pushing it along, like the gain on Wall Street overnight."
Mr Land said jobs figures for February released yesterday were better than expected, reflecting a tight labour market.
The ASX 200 index closed up 111.1 points, or 1.93 per cent, at 5853.0 while the All Ordinaries was up 104.5 to 5831.8.
BHP Billiton lifted 63c to $27.51 and Rio Tinto gained 81c to $73.34.
Woodside Petroleum was 84c richer at $36.30, Santos firmed 31c at $9.71, and Oil Search was up 10c at $3.55..
Qantas rose 8c to $5.12 after it succumbed to investor demands and released earnings guidance for next year.
Among the big banks, NAB rose 97c to $40.37, Westpac improved 41c to $25.65, the ANZ rose 55c to $28.85, and the Commonwealth jumped 88c to $49.58. St George was 65c higher at $33.40.
Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd was 35c heavier at $19.13 as PBL head James Packer threw his weight behind the Nine Network, the business love of his late father.
Austar United Communications nudged up a penny to $1.31 as chief executive John Porter said the subscription television industry was ideally positioned to take advantage of consumer trends in the next three to five years.
Fairfax Media gained 7c cents to $4.67 and News Corp was steady at $30.35 while its non-voters were up 4c at $28.75.
Telstra firmed 3c to $4.30, as did the partly paids, to $2.85, and Optus owner SingTel was also 3c higher at $2.69.
Sporting and leisure retailer Rebel Sport jumped 32c to $4.57 as shareholders approved Archer Capital's $369 million bid.
Coles rose 28c to $15.80 and supermarket rival Woolworths improved 46c to $27.96.
In the gold sector, Newcrest ascended 45c to $21.30, Lihir firmed 8c to $3.10, and Newmont was up 1c to $5.30. Poor old Emperor seems to have stabilised, closing up 0.6c at 9.2c.
Spot gold closed in Sydney at $US644.70 per fine ounce, up $US2.50 on Wednesday's close.
Winemaker Evans & Tate climbed one cent to 17c as it terminated an agreement to merge with US-listed Yarraman Winery but Yarraman said it was still committed to the proposed merger.
Investment bank Macquarie Bank rose $2.30 to $80.30 after announcing it had agreed to pay $2 billion for a car parking business in Britain.
Online brokers IWL eased 8c to $4.70 as it said it had bought a strategic holding in rival ETrade Australia, which is the subject of a takeover offer by ANZ. ETrade was up 12c at $4.25.
Preliminary national turnover was 1.87 billion shares worth $8.7 billion, with 770 stocks up, 401 down and 335 unchanged.

Consumer staples set a better trend

The sharemarket posted strong and consistent gains yesterday with all sectors up on Friday's close.
Telecoms, the health care sector and consumer staple stocks were particularly strong.
ABN Amro Morgans private client adviser Kylie McDonald said those sectors had been rewarded by the market because of their defensive qualities.
"Consumer staples like Coke and Foster's are doing well, I suppose they're supported by yield and defensiveness," Ms McDonald said.
"It's been a strong gain but the volumes are light and it will leave advisers a little bewildered because we are awaiting more of a pullback which isn't happening."
The ASX 200 finished up 60.8 points at 5891.0, the All Ordinaries up 57.9 at 5868.1.
Ms McDonald said value would be restored to the market if it returned to 5600-5500.
"I'd like to see a bit of value re-emerge," she said.
In the resources sector, BHP Billiton was up 33c at $27.80, while Rio Tinto gained 34c to $74.84.
Woodside Petroleum was up 4c at $35.83 and Santos gained 11 cents to $9.82. Oil Search was up 4c to $3.42.
Among the major banks, NAB gained 41c to $40.39, the Commonwealth rose 25c to $50.10, Westpac was up 14c at $25.89 but the ANZ was off 1c at $29.04.
St George Bank was up 53c to $33.83, Bendigo up 16c at $13.66 and Bank of Queensland up 23c at $16.20.
Lihir Gold edged up 2c to $3.17 but Newcrest lost 14c to $21.18 and Newmont was down 12c to $5.38. Emperor, about 50c this time last year, is settling just under the 10c mark. It closed 8.9c, up a tenth of a cent.
In the health care sector, vaccine developer and blood plasma supplier CSL surged $2.50, or 3.23 per cent, to $80 even.
Among the consumer staples stocks, Coca-Cola Amatil enjoyed impressive growth of 48c, or 5.48 per cent, to $8.86, while the Foster's Group was also up, 21c to $6.60.
Lion Nathan did even better, closing up 25c at $8.77 after hitting an all-time high of $8.85.
The boutique brewers continued to struggle. Empire was down 1.5c to 23.5c, Oz Brewery down 1c to 12c and Gage Roads untraded, quoted at 30c/32c, well off its 40c issue price.
Little World, the Fremantle brewer, was down 2c to $1.62, still up on its November 2005 issue price of $1.
The media sector was mostly disappointing, with News Corp down 4c to $30.29 and its non voters also declining, by 18c to $28.72. Ten Network shed 1.5 per cent of its value, dropping 5c to $3.28.
Fairfax was steady at $4.79 but Seven Network was up 9c to $11.37.
Telstra enjoyed a rise of 9c to $4.33 and the partly paids jumped 10c to $2.88.
Among the big retailers, supermarket giant Woolworths gained 73c to $28.08 while Coles was steady at $15.72. Harvey Norman is back in the bosom of buyers, jumping 17c to $4.77. It was under $4 most of last year.
Nervous hedge funds drove the Qantas price down 8c to $5.16, making it the most traded by value for the day, 70 million shares worth a total of $363 million going through.
National total market turnover was 1.42 billion shares at a value of $4.45 billion, with 628 shares closing higher, 492 lower and 342 unchanged.

Another up day … How long can it last?

The stockmarket closed in positive territory again yesterday, driven by the finance sector and BHP Billiton after a positive lead from Wall Street.
The ASX200 index closed 53.5 points higher at 5825.3 while the All Ordinaries was up 53.4 points at 5803.3.
Traders on the Sydney Futures Exchange were a little less sanguine. The March share price index contract closed 40 higher at 5808 on a volume of 39,710 contracts but was still 17 points below the physical.
CMC Markets analyst David Land said a strong lead from offshore markets set the local bourse up for a solid session with finance stocks and the resource sector attracting a lot of interest.
"It was a pretty solid session overnight and that, combined with decent commodity prices, set us up for a good day," he said.
"There was a bit of life in some of the bigger end of the finance sector and we're also seeing BHP higher.
"I think the market, in the broader term, remains solid but in the immediate term I expect we'll see some continuation of the volatility."
US stocks rallied on Tuesday night, snapping a three-day losing streak. The Dow put on 157 points to 12,207 and the S&P 500 index picked up 21 to 1,395.41. The Nasdaq rose 44.
Actually, the big miners were mixed. BHP Billiton climbed 37c to $27.43 while rival Rio Tinto dropped 20c to $74.80.
The energy sector was stronger after higher oil prices on Tuesday night with Woodside up 22c to $35.77, Santos up a deaner to $9.42 and Oil Search up 9c to $3.47. Roc was up 16c to $3.01.
The big banks were mixed, with the Commonwealth picking up 28c to $50.13, Westpac rising 27c to $25.74, the ANZ gaining 10c to $29.10 and NAB dropping 16c to $40.04.
Brewer Lion Nathan put on 12c to $8.47 after the company acquired the Inner Circle Rum brand for an undisclosed sum, further expanding its spirits and ready-to-drink operations.
The retailers were stronger, with Woolworths gaining 12c to $27.81, David Jones putting on 13c to $4.51, Harvey Norman rising just a penny to $4.41 and Coles 7c to $15.47.
Fashion house Just Group climbed 36c to $4.15 after the company announced an off-market share buyback and a 9 per cent lift in first-half net profit to $39.7 million.
Telstra edged 6c higher to $4.22 after it announced plans to raise up to €1 billion through the sale of long-term debt in the Eurobond market.
Australia's largest power retailer, AGL Energy, gained 41c to $15.72 after the company scrapped its proposed $14 billion merger with rival Origin Energy.
Origin dropped 65c to $8.65.
The media sector was stronger, with PBL rising 45c to $19.25, Fairfax up 5c to $4.84, News Corp gaining 51c to $30.31 and its non-voting shares picking up 44c to $28.82.
The goldminers were strong with Newcrest edging 65c higher to $21.51, Newmont up 7c to $5.57 and Lihir Gold up 1c to $3.18. Emperor lost 0.1c to 8.9c.
Uranium and base metals hopeful Western Metals, which has BHP as a partner, was yet again the most traded stock on the market with 125.3 million shares changing hands worth $34.6 million. It started strongly and soon hit 32c but eventually closed down 2c at 25c.
Mobile phone virtual network operator CommidiTel attracted punters, who traded 57 million shares between 2.3c and 2.6c. It finished at 2.4c, up 0.1c but looking for its record last week of 3c.

Market rout slows but Asian falls keep focus on weakness

The Australian stockmarket fell back to close in negative territory yesterday after initially making some headway.
Falls on Asian markets again dragged the bourse into the red but not to the same extent as Wednesday's severe sell-off.
The benchmark ASX 200 index shed 22.3 points to 5810.2 while the All Ordinaries lost 18.2 points to 5798.3.
At the close of day trading on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index contract gained one point to 5803 on a volume of 31,239 contracts.
The fall on Wednesday was the biggest one-day drop on the Australian sharemarket since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Man Financial broker Anthony Anderson said the market recovered some ground early but falls on the Asian markets again weighed on the local bourse.
"Our market once again has been influenced by the local Asian markets," Mr Anderson said. "Tokyo is down significantly … and the Shanghai Index is down as well, so we are line with those moves.
"It did recover early on, but the Asian markets just continued on with the weakness, so we've followed that in patches.
"The miners have bucked the trend today, but the banks and the insurers have been a little weak and that really is where the main weakness is focused."
The US provided a relatively solid lead overnight with the Dow Jones adding 52.39 points to 12,268.63 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index picking up 7.78 points to 1406.82.
The Nasdaq gained 8.29 points to 2416.15.
Locally, the big miners were stronger with BHP Billiton putting on 22c to $27.35 and Rio Tinto gaining 43c to $76.03.
The spot price of gold was slightly higher, closing Sydney trading at $US672.75 an ounce, up $US1.40 on Wednesday's local close.
The goldminers were mixed, with Newmont rising 6c to $5.67, Lihir Gold picking up 4c to $3.36 and Newcrest retreating 7c to $22.48.
The big banks were weaker, with NAB losing 46c to $39.90, the Commonwealth dropping 39c to $49.57, ANZ slipping 12c to $29.18 and Westpac falling 39c to $25.07.
Travel agency Flight Centre plunged $1.89 or 11.19 per cent to $15 after a $1.6 billion proposed management buyout was aborted.
Share registry operator Computershare shed 2c to $10.01 after the company said it would spend about $US25 million ($31.7 million) to snap up two businesses in North America and is looking for more targets.
The media sector was mixed, with Fairfax adding 3c to $4.78, News Corp gaining 4c to $29.91, its non-voting shares picking up 21c to $28.47 and PBL dropping 14c to $19.09.
The retailers were weaker with Coles dropping 4c to $15.32, Woolworths slipping 40c to $26.80 and David Jones off 4c to $4.37.
The energy sector was mixed despite a rise in the oil price, with Oil Search edging 4c higher $3.58, Woodside dropping 24c to $37.02 and Santos retreating 4c to $9.32. Junior explorer Jervois Mining was the most traded stock with 125.09 million shares changing hands collectively worth $4.33 million. Jervois added 0.5c to 3.4c.