Banks stumble but miners help push market forward

The sharemarket closed stronger yesterday with broad gains across several sectors pushing it into positive territory.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 24 points at 6212.2, while the All Ordinaries gained 24.5 points to 6197.8.
CMC Markets analyst David Land said gains by a broad range of sectors helped offset a drop in some of the market's larger financial institutions.
"The life across the market has been positive most of the day, but it definitely strengthened in the latter part of the session," he said.
"We've seen quite a bit of life across a broad range of sectors and it's been broad enough to offset some of the falls from some of the larger companies within the finance sector.
"Some of the notable gains came from BHP and Rio and there was some life out of Macquarie Bank today, which is back up over the $90 [a share] mark."
The big miners were stronger. BHP Billiton picked up 21c to $30.22, while rival Rio Tinto edged $1.14 higher to $84.89.
The banks were mixed.
Westpac gained 26c to $27.33, the Commonwealth dropped 5c to $53.10, and the National Australia Bank gave up 28c to $43.19.
ANZ dipped 32c to $30.88 despite the bank posting a record first-half profit of $2.10 billion.
The Bank of Queensland shed 71c to $17.90 after announcing it would transfer its credit card business to Citibank, resulting in a $26 million net profit.
Babcock & Brown Power gained 17c to $3.25 after the company increased its earnings forecast for this financial year.
Australian drug development company Alchemia put on 8c to $1.15 after it announced successful phase II trial results for its colorectal cancer drug HyCAMP.
Takeover target Summit Resources rose 35c to $5.95 after French nuclear giant Areva NC took a 10.46 per cent stake in the company.
Summit's suitor Paladin Resources gained 41c to $10.00.
The retailers were stronger. Woolworths picked up 13c to $28.65, Coles gained 7c to $17.23, David Jones put on 11c to $4.87, and Harvey Norman edged 9c higher to $5.16.
The media sector was mixed. The James Packer-led PBL added 15c to $20.50, News Corp dropped 21c to $29.96, its non-voting shares slipped 9c to $28.10 and Fairfax shed 6c to $5.13.
The energy sector was mixed despite a surge in the oil price overnight, and Woodside gained 12c to $39.35 and Santos put on 25c to $11.15.
Oil Search was steady at $3.65.
The spot gold price was slightly lower, and was trading at $US686.00 an ounce, up $US1.10 an ounce.
The goldminers were mixed.
Newcrest gained 4c to $23.60, Lihir picked up 1c to $3.02 and Newmont shed 3c to $5.27.
Junior explorer Jervois Mining was the most traded stock, with 107.9 million shares changing hands worth $2.8 million. Jervois added 0.3c to 2.7c.
Preliminary market turnover reached 1.84 billion worth $6.83 billion, with 665 stocks up, 601 stocks down and 347 unchanged.

Bidding barrage spurs market highs

The sharemarket surged to new highs yesterday thanks to corporate activity, generally strong prices for commodities and belief that the United States economy is in reasonable shape.
Austock senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said takeover activity involving retailer Coles, construction materials firm Rinker Group, Qantas Airways and various mining companies was firing the local market.
"There's a fair bit of excitement about the place now you've got the Coles business going on … there's a bit of infectiousness going on there," Mr Heffernan said.
"When you couple that with resources stocks galloping along, that's the ingredients for a market starting to catch on fire."
Recent strong jobs data in the US had also alleviated some concerns that the US economy was going into recession.
"There's a lot of positives out there," Mr Heffernan said.
The ASX 200 rose 75.9 points, or 1.25 per cent, to a record closing high of 6153.0; the previous record of 6097.2 was last Wednesday. The All Ordinaries also jumped to a new closing peak of 6139.1, up 75.1 points.
Both indices also set new intraday highs.
Rinker lifted 33c to $18.81 after Mexican cement group Cemex lifted its takeover offer for the Australian construction materials provider by 22 per cent to $US15.85 ($19.41), valuing the target at almost $18 billion.
Coles jumped 36c to $17.33 as US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts confirmed it was still in the running to buy the retailer.
On Wall Street the previous night, the Dow Jones industrial average finished 8.94 points higher at 12,569.14 as news of investments in the railroad sector by billionaire investor Warren Buffett and strong jobs data offset worries about earnings and bad home loans.
In the resources sector here, BHP Billiton rose 15c to $30.48 despite California knocking back its proposed LNG terminal off Malibu, and Rio Tinto strengthened $1.45 to $81.78.
Gloucester Coal soared $1.04 to $4.85 as Xstrata Coal, the world's largest producer of export thermal coal, launched a $391 million bid for it.
Nickel miner LionOre Mining gained 10c to $20.19 after LionOre recommended Xstrata's $US4 billion takeover bid.
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum improved 8c to $39.12 but Santos dipped the same amount to $10.27. Oil Search lost 1c to $3.50.
Among the major banks, the National rose 74c to $41.99, Westpac 26c to $26.40, the Commonwealth 16c to $51.29, and the ANZ 42c to $29.97.
St George was up 51c to $34.40 and Bendigo Bank fell 3c to $16.80 even after ex-directors of the bank said Bank of Queensland's bid, valued yesterday at about $18.85, was too low. BoQ was up 25c to $17.85.

Market hits new high amid investor madness

The sharemarket closed at record highs, boosted by a strong lead from US markets, takeover activity and the central bank's decision not to lift interest rates.
ABN Amro Morgan senior client adviser Roger Chandler said yesterday the bourse was driven by "madness", albeit positive.
"We had a very positive lead from overseas and the Reserve Bank had the common sense not to increase rates until they have a look at the CPI [inflation] figures," Mr Chandler said.
However, he said the Reserve's decision to hold rates at 6.25 per cent yesterday was not the biggest influence on the market.
"If it were, you would have seen the banks have a huge day when they have not done as well as the rest of the market," Mr Chandler said.
He said retailer Coles Group and diversified industrial group Wesfarmers were among the biggest moving stocks after Wesfarmers proposed a $20 billion takeover of Coles on Tuesday night.
"That type of thing is good for the market because it puts other companies in play," Mr Chandler said.
At the close, the ASX 200 was 83.8 points, or 1.39 per cent, higher at a record 6097.2 - also a new intra-day high - surpassing the previous record finish of 6036.1 set on February 23, 2007.
The All Ordinaries also set new closing and intra-day highs, closing 81.4 points higher at 6079.0.
Coles Group rose 75c, or 4.66 per cent, to $16.86. Wesfarmers gained $1.69 to $38.60.
In the resources sector, BHP Billiton lifted 55c to $30.64 and Rio Tinto gained $2.09 to $80.99.
Woodside Petroleum was 47c weaker at $38.78 and Santos firmed 3c to $10.29.
Natural gas pipeline owner APA Group improved 8c to $4.34 after it said it would buy Origin Energy network assets for $556.5 million. Origin was was off 3c at $8.85.