Goodness, shares rise again

The sharemarket closed in the black again - that's two up days in a row - following a good US lead, with banks and consumer staples performing strongly.
The ASX 200 closed 44.5 points, or 0.8 per cent, higher at 5666.1, while the All Ordinaries was up 46 to 5745.8.
CommSec market analyst Savanth Sebastian said the National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank led the financial sector.
NAB was up 99c to $30.11 and the Commonwealth was up $1.19 to $45.86. The ANZ gained 27c to $22.87 and Westpac rose 47c to $23.99.
Suncorp-Metway, though, was down 13c to $15.15.
QBE Insurance plunged $2.92 to $25.75, with the market shrugging off a 30 per cent increase in its annual profit to $1.925 billion.
Mr Sebastian said a stronger Wall Street after two large US bond issuers received positive credit ratings had a big effect. The Dow Jones industrial average had closed 189.2, or 1.53 per cent, higher at 12,570.22.
"MBIA retained its triple A credit rating and Ambac [both bond insurers] was also given that rating but it is on review. Still, it's certainly better than what the market expected," he said.
"Tonight we get US producer prices, consumer confidence numbers, home price numbers and the manufacturing index, which the market will be looking at tomorrow.
"It's all leading into the US GDP numbers, which will come out towards the end of the week."
A poor performer yesterday was ABC Learning Centres after the company reported a 42 per cent fall in first-half profit to $37.1 million.
"Directors in the company hold margin positions over the stock and have reiterated that they will not be selling unless it is absolutely necessary," Mr Sebastian said. ABC Learning closed $1.60 lower at $2.14.
"Base metals were weaker overnight … which saw a bit of profit-taking in the resources sector," Mr Sebastian said.
BHP Billiton dipped 30c to $38.75 while Rio Tinto shed $1.75 to $133.68.
Australia's largest supermarket chain, Woolworths, gained $1.22 to $30.23 after posting a 28.1 per cent increase in first-half net profit to $891.3 million.
Wesfarmers, the owner of Australia's second largest retailer, Coles, rose $1.91 to $41.05 and the upmarket department store chain David Jones did even better, rising 22c to $4.32.
The energy sector was mixed. Woodside rose 17c to $55.95, Santos dipped 40c to $11.81 and Oil Search dropped 11c to $4.42 but Beach was up 5.5c to $1.46.