The Australian market is higher amid subdued activity as weary investors await news on whether the West will launch military action against Syria.
The All Ordinaries was 0.3 per cent higher in midday trade on Friday, but Australian Stock Report analyst Benny Sada said he wasn’t expecting to see major gains.
“It’s been pretty uneventful,” he said.
He said better-than-expected US gross domestic product (GDP) data and the British parliament’s voting against strike against Syria had helped lift the market.
“That probably explains why our market is up a little bit today, but there’s no real drivers that’s likely to see it make some solid gains,” Mr Sada said.
“There’s less threat of an imminent attack on Syria, and we saw that reflected in our commodity markets.”
Oil and gas giant Woodside shed 20.5 cents at $38.01.
Among the miners, BHP Billiton up four cents at 35.39, while Rio Tinto was down 39 cents at $57.86.
Gold miner Newcrest was down five cents at $13.40 but Iron ore company Fortescue gained one cent to $4.32.
All the big four banks were in positive territory, with ANZ up 11 cents at $29.58, Commonwealth Bank gaining 43 cents to $72.48, National Bank four cents lifting to $32.40, and Westpac rising 12 cents to $31.34
“We’re seeing modest gains in the financial sector,” said Mr Sada.
As reporting season drew to a close, electrical and homewares retailer Harvey Norman said its full year profit had fallen 17.5 per cent amid dwindling sales across its Australian and European businesses.
Its shares had risen seven cents, or 2.43 per cent, to $2.95 by 1242 AEST.
But shares in airline Virgin Australia were down 0.75 cents, or 1.85 per cent, at $0.40 after it reported a net loss of $98.1 million.
Mr Sada said that while company results had generally been in line with guidance, their outlooks had failed to hearten the market.
“I think we’ve been disappointed with the outlook statements from some of the companies,” he said.
“The key theme is there is a lot of uncertainty with the Australian economy.”
KEY FACTS
* At 1215 AEST on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 15 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 5,107.4 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was 15.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, higher at 5,098.5 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was up 14 points at 5,090 points, with 12,046 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 692 million securities worth $2.8 billion.
