bhp rally lifts stocks

BHP rally lifts stocks
June 03, 2005
From: AAP


THE share market finished higher today, helped by an afternoon rally in market heavyweight BHP Billiton.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 gained 13.3 points to 4194, while the all ordinaries index was 12.8 points higher at 4149.2 at the 1605 AEST close.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange the June share price index contract was up two points to 4204 on a volume of 13,053 contracts.

Mining giant BHP Billiton said this afternoon that it had succeeded in its bid to secure more than 50 per cent of takeover target WMC Resources by today's deadline and has extended the bid by another fortnight.
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The news sparked a rush for WMC shares, with the miner ending the day as the most traded stock on the market, with 70.32 million shares traded.

"There will be a lot of hedge funds switching out of WMC into BHP," ABN Amro Morgans adviser Lisa Sadgrove said.

She said that the process would have begun earlier this week, but there was certainty for investors now.

"They can back it 100 per cent," Ms Sadgrove said.

WMC shares closed two cents higher at $7.85 while BHP Billiton gained 25 cents to $17.42.

Rio Tinto added 30 cents to $44.15.

Oil company Woodside Petroleum gained 15 cents to $26.75 but Santos lost five cents to $10.45.

The big banks were mixed at the end of a week that included National Australia Bank and Westpac going ex-dividend.

NAB lost 37 cents today to $30.78 and the Commonwealth Bank fell 21 cents to $37.84, but Westpac lifted by 11 cents to $19.49 and the ANZ shifted two cents higher to $21.93.

Among other financials, life insurer AMP fell three cents to $6.48 and AXA dipped two cents to $4.63.

But QBE Insurance went up 15 cents to $15.45 and Insurance Australia Group edged up one cent to $6.17.

The retail sector enjoyed gains, with Harvey Norman up more than four per cent, closing 11 cents higher at $2.64, while Coles Myer was up nine cents at $9.45 and David Jones up 2.5 cents to $1.89.

Woolworths shares were steady at $16.46.

Beer and wine group Foster's was steady at $5.52 on the day that its successful $3.17 billion takeover bid of winemaker Southcorp closed.

Southcorp shares were also steady, at $4.26.

Telecommunications giant Telstra ended strongly, up seven cents to $5.14, while Qantas Airways gained nine cents to $3.29.

In the media sector, News Corporation slipped 17 cents to $22.09 while its non-voting shares were 27 cents lower at $21.25, and newspaper group Fairfax backtracked one cent to $4.31, but Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd moved up 16 cents to $15.31.

Among the gold stocks, Newcrest Mining gained 22 cents to $14.32 and Newmont Mining was four cents higher at $5.00 after a lift in the gold price.

At 1642 AEST the spot price of gold was $US422 per ounce, $US5.15 higher than yesterday's close.

Preliminary national turnover was 981.4 million shares traded for a total value of $3.61 billion, with 570 stocks rising, 429 falling and 315 unchanged.