The Australian share market has opened higher following a positive lead from Wall Street, with the S&P/ASX200 index reaching a new record intraday high of 5,502.30 at 1034 AEDT, breaking the previous peak set on November 7 of 5,496.30.
The Australian share market has opened higher following a positive lead from Wall Street, with the S&P/ASX200 index reaching a new record intraday high of 5,502.30 at 1034 AEDT, breaking the previous peak set on November 7 of 5,496.30.
At 1015 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 17.6 points to 5,487.30, while the all ordinaries gained 14.5 points to 5,470.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract rose 18 points to 5,484 on a volume of 2,808 contracts.
Sentinel Stockbroking chief executive Norman Robinson said an across the market flow of funds had seen resources stocks left out, despite the fact that they normally drove the market.
"It's like the good old days, with strength coming from the banks and Telstra," he said.
Mr Robinson said the market may be bordering on a breakout of its consolidation phase, but there was no guarantee of this yet.
Austock Brokers senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the market had opened with great gusto.
"The market's smiling again today ... on the back of some pretty reasonable performances in the US, and mainly green lights flashing on the commodities scene," Mr Heffernan said.
"We opened with great gusto."
He said that, with such a strong start, the market was likely to finish the day in positive territory.
In the US overnight, stocks rose slightly as a flurry of deal news involving companies such as American International Group Inc spurred optimism about the economic outlook.
The Dow Jones industrial average lifted 20.99 points to close at 12,328.48.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was 3.20 points higher at 1,413.04, and the Nasdaq Composite Index grew 5.50 points to 2,442.86.
Stock Move Price
AMP -0.010 9.570
ANZ Bank +0.170 28.080
BHPBilton -0.160 25.790
CBA -0.060 47.500
NAB +0.060 38.850
NewsCorp -0.340 28.460
Rio Tinto -0.280 75.270
TelstraCp +0.030 4.000
WestpacBk +0.110 24.000
Woolwrths +0.030 22.220
By 1034 AEDT, the S&P/ASX200 index had reached a new record intraday high of 5,502.30, breaking the previous peak set on November 7 of 5,496.30.
The All Ordinaries Index also struck higher ground, reaching a new intraday high of 5,483.50 versus the previous record of 5,466.60 set on November 30.
The banks were mostly higher, with ANZ among the early gainers jumping 27 cents to $28.18.
Westpac firmed 24 cents at $24.13, National Australia Bank rose nine cents to $38.88, and St George grew 14 cents at $32.43.
But Commonwealth Bank bucked the trend, slipping five cents to $47.51.
Macquarie Bank was hot off the blocks, climbing $1.27 to $74.37. The Australian investment bank has raised its bid for German metering company Techem AG, topping a rival bid from private equity firm BC Partners.
Also in the news, lead and zinc miner Zinifex and European specialty metals group Umicore announced plans to merge their zinc smelting and alloying businesses.
Zinifex galloped ahead $1.02 at $18.40.
Elsewhere in the resources sector, Rio Tinto fell 35 cents to $75.20, and rival mining giant BHP Billiton shrank 11 cents to $25.84.
Woodside Petroleum dropped 34 cents to $37.41. The oil and gas producer said today its North West Shelf Venture had signed a deal to sell liquefied natural gas to Tokyo Gas Co Ltd.
Oil Search fell three cents to $3.19 and Santos was three cents lower at $9.79.
At 1042 AEDT, Telstra had risen six cents to $4.03 and Singapore Telecommunications, the owner of rival telco Optus, gained four cents at $2.65.
The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US630.30, up $US4.35 on yesterday's local close.
On the gold mining front, Newmont edged up two cents to $5.94, Newcrest increased 30 cents to $25.30 and Lihir Gold firmed three cents at $3.06.
The most actively traded stock on volume was Newsat with 49.92 million shares worth $512,810 million changing hands as shares in the broadband supplier rose 0.2 cents to 1.1 cents.
Market turnover was 442.48 million shares worth $1.1 billion with 453 stocks rising, 279 falling and 348 remaining unchanged.
