News from AAP

Banks lift share market

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The Australian share market is higher as strong gains among the major banks offset falls by several major resources companies.

IG Markets institutional dealer Chris Weston said there was no real explanation for why the big four banks were all higher.

“It’s been a tale of some sort of variance in the mining space, but banking stocks have really been on fire today and that’s really why the market’s been moving up,” Mr Weston said.

“There’s no real smoking gun.”

He said investors were keeping an eye on the flight of capital from emerging Asian markets to the United States and European markets.

“The prospect of a negative situation in that region is really escalating,” he said.

Among the banks, NAB gained 57 cents to $32.14, Commonwealth Bank added 83 cents to $71.10, ANZ was up 17 cents at $29.73, and Westpac rose by 15 cents to $31.29.

Macquarie Group gained 80 cents to $44.60.

In the resources sector, BHP Billiton dropped 80 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $35.74, after its weaker than expected annual profit result announced late on Tuesday.

Oil and gas giant Woodside also fell, despite a rise in its half year profit due to strong production from its giant Pluto gas plant.

Its shares dropped 60 cents to $38.10.

Other energy and mining stocks performed better, with Rio Tinto gaining nine cents to $59.60, Fortescue added four cents to $4.09, and Oil Search was four cents higher ay $8.25.

Among the many companies to report profits on Wednesday, Super Retail was one of the worst performers on the market.

Shares in the auto, sports and leisure retailer dropped 65 cents, or five per cent, to $12.30, despite the company’s 23 per cent full year profit growth.

KEY FACTS

* At the close on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 21.8 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 5,100.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 21.5 points, or 0.42 per cent, at 5,090.3.

* The September share price index futures contract was 23 points higher at 5,074 with 23,425 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 1.7 billion securities worth $3.9 billion.