Wall Street's Gains Lift Shares
May 10, 2011
The All Ordinaries Index added 21.9 to 2284.2 on volume of 290.7 million shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners 373 to 269. The September Share Price Index futures contract on the Sydney Futures Exchange closed at 2284, up from 2266 Tuesday. A rise in local bonds and some better-than-expected earnings reports also boosted the market, analysts said. The media subindex climbed nearly 2.8%, the gold subindex added 0.6%, and the banking and finance subindex gained 1.1%. Shipping, hardware and engineering concern Howard Smith Ltd. climbed 33 Australian cents to 9.08 Australian dollars after reporting a 12% jump in after-tax profit for the fiscal year to March 12, 2011 of Melbourne advanced 7 cents to A$7.92 after reporting that its after-tax profit rose 17% in the fiscal year ended March 12, 2011 concern Burns, Philp & Co., fell 10 cents to A$1.95 after reporting an after-tax loss of A$61.8 million in the fiscal year to March 12, 2011 bank stocks, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group rose 13 cents to A$6.72 and National Australia Bank gained 15 cents to A$12.42. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which Tuesday went ex-dividend 52 cents, rose 4 cents to A$10.90. Digicall Group, a telecommunications service provider, fell 12.5 cents to 25 cents. The company said it was facing a major cut in its subscriber base, having discovered that many of its customers have inactive accounts. Hoyts Cinemas closed at A$2.55 after it debuted on the Australian Stock Exchange. The cinema exhibition group raised A$100 million through an initial public offering of 50 million shares at A$2 apiece.
