Wednesday, Sydney shares have started the new year on a positive note, with no leads from either the U.S. or other markets on account of a holiday on Tuesday. At 12:10 p.m. local time, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was adding 31.4 points to 6,371.2 and the broader-based All Ordinaries index was up 28.7 points at 6,449.7. The Australian dollar opened weak at US$0.8753-0.8761, down from Monday's close of US$0.8816-0.8820. Troubled shopping centre owner Centro Property Group rallied after the company said that it had received a significant number of unsolicited expression of interest from potential investors. Centro Properties Group surged 7.92% and Centro Retail Group jumped 2.63%. General Property Trust Group was unchanged, Stockland gained 0.12% and Macquarie Office climbed 2.14%. Index leader BHP Billiton rose 1.12%, while its takeover target Rio Tinto climbed 0.52%. Gold miner Lihir Gold was unchanged, while Newcrest Mining surged 1.81%. The spot price of gold was slightly lower compared to Monday's Sydney close. Bank stocks were trading higher. Westpac Banking Group climbed 0.52%, Commonwealth Bank advanced 0.54% and ANZ added 0.44%. National Australia Bank was unchanged. Among retailers, Woolworths jumped 1.18% and Wesfarmers, the owner of Australia's second biggest retailer Coles, gained 0.42%, while Harvey Norman lost 1.03%. In the media sector, Consolidated Media Holdings rose 1.67%, but News Corp shed 0.41%. Fairfax Media dropped 0.85%. Telstra gained 1.07% and Singapore Telecommunications, the owner of rival Optus, advanced 1.61%.
January 1, 2008 8:48 PM