The Australian share market has closed higher in the wake of a positive lead from US markets, but investor focus is set to shift more towards the domestic company reporting season.
CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said trading was positive on the local bourse on Monday, although volumes were light.
“Clearly those strong leads we’ve had from US markets are one of the key drivers today,” he said.
“We’ve also seen a bit of a bounce in energy and metals prices, and that’s broadly supportive as well.”
On Wall Street in the US on Friday, the major indices shrugged off some mixed jobs numbers to finish more than one per cent higher.
The US economy added 113,000 jobs in January, well below the 170,000 expected by analysts. But unemployment fell to 6.6 per cent and more people were looking for work.
Mr McCarthy said the headline US new jobs figure was weak, but the market liked the fall in the unemployment rate and the increase in the participation rate.
Those figures, and other released in the US on Friday, on balance indicated that the US economy was continuing to recover.
Mr McCarthy said local investors would be focusing more on companies’ financial results as the domestic reporting season picks up pace this week.
“It’s the bottom-up view that’s going to drive us for the next couple of weeks,” he said.
On the local bourse, in the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was up 41 cents at $36.50, Rio Tinto was $1.06 cents higher at $67.02, and Fortescue Metals dipped one cent to $5.59.
Among the major banks, the National Australia Bank gained 63 cents to $33.41, Westpac improved 52 cents to $31.77, ANZ climbed 46 cents to $29.91, and Commonwealth Bank advanced $1.33 to $74.85.
Regional airline operator Regional Express eased 9.5 cents, or 10.56 per cent, to 80.5 cents. The airline called on the federal government to prevent the collapse of more regional airlines after flagging a steep fall in first half profit.
Veterinary and pet products group Greencross lifted nine cents to $8.70 as it said it will continue to expand its network of clinics and retail stores in the second half of the 2013/14 financial year, keeping it on track to reach its full year profit guidance.
Insurance comparison website iSelect lost 12 cents, or 8.89 per cent, to $1.23 after it said it would take a $1 million to $2 million hit to revenue and earnings after agreeing to a new car insurance deal at lower commission rates.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Monday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 55.6 points, or 1.08 per cent, at 5,222.1 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 52 points, or 1.0 per cent, at 5,236.5 points.
* At 1624 AEDT, the March share price index futures contract was 47 points higher at 5,169 points, with 25,154 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.43 billion securities worth $3.53 billion.
