The Australian share market has closed higher as investors await further developments on Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.
OptionsXpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said the market on Tuesday had a nice bounce back after the possibility of deeper conflict in Ukraine’s Crimea region had sparked a sell-off on Monday.
“There’s possibly a bit of bargain-hunting going on today,” Mr Le Brun said.
“We had a chance to react to the negative news (about Crimea) yesterday (Monday).
“There’s probably some relief that the Crimea crisis has not got any worse.”
Mr Le Brun said Australian investors may believe that the Crimea crisis is more of a problem for Europe given that Australian actress Cate Blanchett’s Oscar win seemed to be getting just as much attention.
Mr Le Brun said a bounce-back on other markets in the region may have also encouraged local investors.
The local market was led higher by the major banks. The Commonwealth bank lifted 45 cents to $74.93, National Australia Bank rose 18 cents to $34.73, Westpac improved 34 cents to $33.65, and ANZ advanced 23 cents to $32.18.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton eased four cents to $37.36, Rio Tinto edged up four cents to $65.83, and Fortescue Metals dipped two cents to $5.33.
Airline Qantas was 1.5 cents lower at $1.135 in the wake of news that the Abbott Government will seek to repeal foreign ownership restrictions on the airline.
Toys, clothing, confectionery and film distributor Funtastic fell three cents to 12 cents as it said it was set to sell its film and television distribution business, Madman Entertainment, and warned of lower first-half earnings.
AGL Energy was off 38 cents at $15.05 after Australia’s consumer watchdog said it will oppose its planned takeover of two NSW government-owned power stations.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 15.9 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,400.2 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 14.3 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 5,411.7 points.
* The March share price index futures contract was up nine points at 5,398 points, with 24,904 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.54 billion securities worth $3.64 billion.