The Australian market recovered from early falls to start the week with small gains, raising hopes that the recent sell-off might have ended.
The ASX200 closed 0.9 per cent up last week but only after a 1.3 per cent gain.
Before last week, it had fallen more than seven per cent since the start of May.
Wealth Within chief analyst Dale Gillham said while Monday’s gains of 0.2 per cent were very small, with the Greek debt saga weighing on investors, he was bullish about the Australian market.
“We’ve still got a (ASX200) target for the next few months of 6,200,” he told AAP.
“A lot of the top 20 or 50 stocks have been down for 6-8 weeks but that started to turn and move up last week in volatility and momentum.”
The banks and telecommunications stocks were among the best performers.
Commonwealth Bank closed up 55 cents at $85.02, National Australia Bank climbed 11 cents to $33.77, ANZ gained 16 cents to $32.92 and Westpac was 32 cents higher at $32.12.
Telstra was up five cents to $6.18, and property stocks were also stronger, with Mirvac Group up three cents at $1.925 and Westfield Shopping Centre operator Scentre six cents better at $3.95.
Shares in job search group SEEK were down $2.03, or 12.3 per cent, at $14.47 after it warned of weak full year earnings growth amid problems with its education division.
Loss-making mining services contractor Macmahon Holdings was another to downgrade its financial forecasts, due to asset impairments that could hit $125 million.
Its shares were steady at 4.8 cents.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 13.2 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 5,610.2 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 11.6 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 5,603.1 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was 14 points higher at 5,555 points, with 20,567 contracts traded.
* The price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,196.70 per fine ounce, down $US3.40 from $US1,200.10 on Friday.
* National turnover was 1.98 billion securities worth $4.45 billion.
