The Australian share market has overcome a poor start to finish slightly higher, led by the major banks and the resources sector.
Phillip Capital senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the banks were benefiting from the cut to interest rates earlier this month, and the resources sector was buoyed by higher oil prices and some stability in the iron ore price.
“If you’ve got resources going well and the banks going well, the whole market is going to take off, and I think that has been happening in the last couple of weeks,” Mr Heffernan said.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank was up 32 cents at $93.47, ANZ firmed 13 cents to $35.87, Westpac improved 12 cents to $37.65, and National Australia Bank found two cents at $37.50
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank fell 64 cents, or 4.45 per cent, to $13.74 despite lifting its half year cash earnings more than 17 per cent amid strong lending growth.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was up 39 cents at $32.56, Rio Tinto shed 24 cents to $63.55, and Fortescue Metals 5.5 cents jumped nine cents to $2.68.
Patties Food plunged 10.5 cents, or 7.66 per cent, to $1.265 because of the company’s recall of frozen berry products linked to a hepatitis A outbreak.
Childcare centre operator G8 Education slumped 48 cents, or 10.04 per cent, to $4.30 after its annual profit soared but missed market expectations.
Rail operator Aurizon sagged 12 cents to $4.88 as it lifted its half year profit and hinted that shareholders can potentially expect higher cash returns.
KEY FACTS
* At 1618 AEDT on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 11.2 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 5,888.7 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 14 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 5,849.5 points.
* The March share price index futures contract was 10 points higher at 5,832 points, with 21,443 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.47 billion securities worth $3.84 billion.
