The Australian share market had advanced over 0.6 per cent by noon following a firm lead from Wall Street and gains made by the seven largest local stocks.
All Ordinaries index was up 32.4 points, or 0.67 per cent, at 4,879.9.
Analysts said Steady trading on Tuesday had seen banks, materials and energy stocks advance. The market was likely to finish the month higher. We're following overseas firmness. The big seven are driving the market. We expected the S&P/ASX 200 to climb to 5,100 points by April 30
Mining services group Mineral Resources Ltd (MIN) has announced it will make a takeover bid for mineral processing technology developer Mesa Minerals Ltd (ASX:MAS). The Perth-based company says it will offer one Mineral Resources share for every 70.6 Mesa shares, which values Mesa at $60.9 million. The offer has been recommended by the companys directors, however, one of the key conditions is the withdrawal of all resolutions to be considered by Mesa shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting on Friday. Mesa Minerals is a partner in the Ant Hill manganese project in Western Australias Pilbara region. Shares in Mineral Resources are down 0.28% at $7.16.
CXS collapsed after a U.S. FDA advisory panel said it wanted further tests on a proposed leukaemia drug. The shares dived 41 percent to A$0.40 in very heavy volume.
The best performing sector at midday is the Financials excluding the Real Estate Investment Trust index, up 71 points at 5,722.
The worst performing sector is the Healthcare index, down 41 points to 8,885.
Gold is trading at US$1,105.15 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 91.72 US cents.
QUICK TRADES CXS: Traded ten times with nice profit JPR: Got out with small loss Watching MSC
We've all been in a situation where a short-term trade has all of a sudden become a long-term one ("I'm prepared to take this loss because I believe in the stock"). Or your original stop loss has sailed by you and you've adjusted accordingly or decided that for this particular trade you just don't need a stop ("I'm prepared to take this loss because I believe in the stock"). That's the mantra you repeat as your bank balance diminishes.
