Australian stocks are higher for the third consecutive day, following the lead of US markets which rallied to fresh highs on strong jobs growth figures.
The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 closed at new records overnight after surprisingly robust US jobs growth pointed to a stronger economy, Commsec market analyst Steven Daghlian said.
The US added 288,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate fell to 6.1 per cent from 6.3 per cent in May, the US Department of Labor employment’s report said.
Mr Daghlian said this equated to about 75,000 jobs more than expected.
“We’re up for the third straight day, the longest winning streak in over a month,” he said.
“We’re also up about 1.5 per cent this week, which is the best week we’ve had in about four months.
“The big reason for this is the better-than-expected job numbers out of the US overnight.”
All sectors have risen on the good news with the miners also benefiting from stronger iron ore prices.
Rio Tinto had added 17 cents to $62.62, BHP Billiton had advanced 41 cents to $37.64 and Fortescue Metals had gained eight cents to $4.71.
As for the major banks, National Australia Bank had grown 38 cents to $33.69, ANZ had risen 18.5 cents to $33.825, Westpac had added 24 cents to $34.43 and Commonwealth Bank was 36 cents higher at $81.91.
Telstra stocks were five cents higher at $5.33 amid speculation the telco may announce a $2 billion share buyback.
Capital management rumours have consistently circled Telstra since the agreement over the national broadband network under the previous Labor government.
In other news, Virgin Australia has appointed the bosses of Air New Zealand, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines, its key stakeholders, to its board.
The company’s stock was flat at 42.5 cents.
KEY FACTS
* At 1200 AEST on Friday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had added 34.1 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 5,525.3.
* The broader All Ordinaries index had gained 33.4 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 5,512.9.
* The September share price index futures contract was 35 points higher at 5,488, with 10,146 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 764 million securities worth $1.275 billion.
