News of a massive takeover offer for energy Santos has helped lift the share market.
Santos has rejected the $7.1 billion proposal from overseas fund manager Scepter Partners, but its shares soared in the news, along with others in the energy sector.
Commonwealth Bank’s interest rate hike late in the session also boosted the banking sector, Bell Direct equities analyst Julia Lee said.
“There is a lot of positive sentiment in the oil and gas space despite a fall in oil prices, and there’s been a turnaround in financial stocks after CBA’s announcement,” she said.
Santos shares surged 16 per cent, adding 88 cents to $6.32, while Origin Energy gained 32 cents to $5.92 and Woodside was 12 cents higher at $7.44.
Ms Lee said the chances of a Reserve Bank rate cut have increased after CBA’s decision to lift standard variable rates for owner occupiers by 0.15 percentage points, which follows Westpac’s 0.2 percentage point rise.
CBA shares rose 58 cents to $76.39, Westpac gained 28 cents to $31.03, National Australia Bank added 11 cents to $31.83 and ANZ was four cents higher at $28.60.
Lower commodity prices pushed BHP Billiton 13 cents lower to $24.10 and rival Rio Tinto was 12 cents weaker at $52.66.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 15.5 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,263.8.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 13.1 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 5,299.6.
* The December share price index futures contract was four points lower at 5,234, with 22,072 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 2.4 billion securities worth $4.6 billion.
