SYDNEY, May 9: Australian shares edged up 0.2 percent in late morning trade on Thursday, notching a new high since July 2008, as miners made further gains and overall sentiment was buoyed by strong local employment data.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 10.3 points at 5,210.0 as of 0206 GMT. The benchmark jumped 1.1 percent on Wednesday with miners leading the gains, buoyed by better-than-expected trade data from China which boosted prices of base metals.
China, Australia’s biggest export market, posted slightly higher consumer price inflation data for April, which was still below the central bank’s 3 percent forecast for 2013. China’s producer prices dropped 2.6 percent in April, due to subdued factory and investment growth.
‘It will be interesting to see how the market pans out over the course of the day in light of those numbers,’ said CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy.
‘It may have some speculating that it makes a further rate cut less likely. We could see selling on the back of it,’ he said. ‘(But) some will simply take it on face value, and say that the strength in the economy is coming to light.’
Global miner BHP Billiton Ltd added 0.6 percent, while rival Rio Tinto Ltd lost 0.5 percent, after the company said at its general meeting that it expected continuing volatility in the short and medium term.[ID: nWNBS003IC]
Financials were mixed. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, the smallest in the ‘big four’, fell 3.2 percent to A$30.47, as its shares went ex-dividend on Wednesday.
Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corp rose 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
National Australia Bank Ltd lost 1.3 percent, after it posted a 3.1 percent rise in first-half cash profit, smaller than its peers.
‘Considering market expectations after stellar results from ANZ and WBC, this might be taken as a disappointment,’ said Evan Lucas, a market strategist at IG in Melbourne, in a note.
New Zealand’s benchmark NZX 50 index lost 0.1 percent to 4,636.0, backing off from an all-time high hit in the previous session.
(agencies)
^^^^
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel