Good news drives Aust stockmarket to new high

Good news drives Aust stockmarket to new high
AAP News
17:20:020 21/07/2005
By Trevor Chappell
MELBOURNE, July 21 AAP - The Australian stock market rose to
records levels today as investors took heart from strong United
States markets, upbeat comments from the top US central banker and
China's unstoppable economic boom.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished 42.0 points higher at
4343.2, eclipsing the previous record finish of 4312.2 set on June
17.
The all ordinaries index surged upwards by 39.4 points to
4302.7, surpassing the June 17 closing record of 4267.3.
Overnight, US markets were boosted by strong company earnings
reports and upbeat comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Alan
Greenspan, who said the outlook for the US economy was one of
sustained growth and contained inflation pressures.
CommSec equities economist Carl Jensen said the Australian
market had been looking a little cautious ahead of the local
company reporting season which swings into gear next week, but a
combination of factors had really boosted investors over the last
two days.
"All in all, it seems the market is being pushed higher by a
fair bit of upbeat news," Mr Jensen said.
"US markets were up overnight. The NASDAQ (composite index) and
the Standard & Poor's 500 hit a four-year high, there were upbeat
comments by Greenspan, and yesterday we had the China numbers as
well."
The latest data showed that in the first half of the year
China's economy expanded faster than expected, by 9.5 per cent.
Whether or not the Australian market continues to climb when the
local reporting season starts will depend upon how good companies'
earnings are and their outlook for the future, Mr Jensen said.
He said strong Chinese economic growth particularly helped
Australian resources stocks, which benefited from the higher demand
for coal, iron ore and base metals.
However, the lift in the Australian market was fairly
broad-based.
"Don't forget that oil price was down overnight at $US56.72 a
barrel so we're well below the $US62.10 that we saw a couple of
weeks ago," Mr Jensen said.
Mr Jensen said local investors were also keeping an eye on the
US company reporting season on at the moment and some recent
results had been encouraging.
AAP


SYDNEY, July 21 AAP - Stocks to watch on the Australian Stock
Exchange at close:

BHP - BHP BILLITON LTD - up 35 cents to $19.00
Major diversified miner BHP Billiton has signed a $US4.3 billion
($A5.69 billion) deal to supply iron ore to one of Japan's leading
steel mills, JFE Steel.

RIO - RIO TINTO LTD - jumped 74 cents or 1.6 per cent to $46.87
Broker Credit Suisse First Boston released an outperform rating
on the resources firm after it announced an exceptionally good
production scorecard for the June quarter. Brokers Goldman Sachs
JBWere also placed a short term outperform and long term buy rating
on the stock.

ILU - ILUKA RESOURCES LTD - up 19 cents or 2.57 per cent to
$7.58
Mineral sands miner Iluka expects a net profit of $75 million in
the first half of 2005, "considerably higher" than for the same
period last year.

HSP - HEALTHSCOPE LTD - climbed 10 cents or 2.01 per cent to
$5.08
Hospitals and health services operator Healthscope Ltd expects a
net profit for the 2005 full year of about $22 million, well above
its forecast of $14.4 million in its December 2004 prospectus.

OSH - OIL SEARCH LTD - edged up three cents to $3.31
Oil Search Ltd today posted record second quarter production and
said it was confident of meeting its full year production targets.

ZFX - ZINIFEX LTD - up 12 cents or 4.11 per cent to $3.04
Shares in zinc and lead miner Zinifex continued to climb after
it yesterday upgraded its profit forecast for 2004/05, citing high
commodity prices and tax credits.

OST - ONESTEEL LTD - up six cents to $2.67
Steelmaker OneSteel Ltd today said the introduction of new
international accounting standards would lead to an estimated $126
million downward adjustment to its retained profits.

SGT - SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS - up two cents to $2.17
ALW - ALPHAWEST LTD - steady at 60 cents
Singapore Telecommunications subsidiary Optus has made an $25.9
million takeover offer for IT services firm Alphawest Ltd.

AQA - AQUILA RESOURCES LTD - down 20 cents or 4.76 per cent to
$4.00
Brazilian mining giant CVRD, the world's top iron ore producer,
has signed deals with Aquila Resources Limited (Aquila) and AMCI
Holdings Australia Pty Ltd (AMCI) for a coal project in Queensland,
the companies announced yesterday.

IWL - IWL LTD - up four cents to $2.71
Wealth management and technology solutions group IWL Ltd has
confirmed it is on track to report a record full year result.
IWL expects operating revenues to increase by 16 per cent to
more than $53.8 million.

CHY - CARTER HOLT HARVEY - up two cents to $2.22
The timber producer has lowered its 2005 operating profit
forecast back to $NZ283 million from April's $NZ300 million,
blaming lower pulp prices and continued softening in the Australian
housing market.

CRG - CRANE GROUP LTD - down two cents to $8.37
SMS - SIMS GROUP LTD - up 59 cents or four per cent to $15.33
Crane Group Ltd will close its two-third owned joint venture
with Sims Group Ltd, Conex, a manufacturer of copper alloy rod and
bar extrusions at Ingleburn in NSW.

AAP


INDEX MOVEMENT POSITION INDEX MOVEMENT POSITION
S&P/ASX200 +42.9 4343.2 Dow Jones +42.59 10689.15
All Ords +39 4302.7 S&P 500 +5.85 1235.2
SPI contract +42 4334.0 Nasdaq +15.39 2188.57
Gold $USoz +3.75 423.00 Nikkei -2.62 11786.73
$A/USD +.0067 0.7582 NZSE-50 -9.355 3310.381