CANBERRA: The Australian share market has lifted more than 1.6 per cent despite US markets not trading and mixed economic data. CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said it was difficult to pin down the reasons why the local bourse lifted on Tuesday.
“It’s difficult to divine exactly why today is the day that the market has chosen to get better,” Mr Spooner said. “There wasn’t a lot in the way of international leads.” European markets were stronger but the bellwether US market was closed for the Labor Day public holiday. Also, the latest data on Chinese imports and exports was poor.
However, there was positive domestic news, with a NAB monthly survey showing improved business conditions and signs of growth outside of the mining sector. Furthermore, the Australian dollar also picked up a little bit, which appeared to restore a bit of confidence to the market.”I think the market has just settled down a little bit,” Mr Spooner said. “I think there’s been quite a bit of potential buying waiting in the wings for the market to show signs of stopping falling.”
Energy stocks attracted investor attention after Woodside Petroleum proposed to acquire Papua New Guinea-focused oil and gas player Oil Search.
Oil Search surged $1.17, or 17.38 per cent, to $7.90. Woodside fell 92 cents to $29.66. Origin Energy rose 24 cents to $7.72. Elsewhere in the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was 51 cents stronger at $24.70, Rio Tinto added $1.07 to $50.22, and Fortescue Metals was up 3.5 cents at $1.96.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank ascended $1.85 to $74.17, Westpac gained 72 cents to $30.52, National Australia Bank jumped 59 cents to $30.20, and ANZ advanced 82 cents to $27.53.
