Australian stocks poised to retest peak, AMP up 17:45, Wednesday, 23 June 2004
(Updates to midsession)
SYDNEY, June 23 (Reuters) - Australian stocks firmed in early afternoon trade on Wednesday, pushing the benchmark index towards its record high as AMP rose after reaffirming plans to pay higher dividends or buy back shares.
Advances in top phone company Telstra and diversified miners BHP Billiton following a positive lead from Wall Street also helped underpin the overall market.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> put on 14.4 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,555.1 shortly after midday, regaining all of the losses in the previous session to be within easy reach of the record high of 3,556.3 set on Monday.
"We're going to be heading into a solid reporting season and so the strength we've seen in the market has been people positioning themselves for that," said Matt Williams, Australian equities manager at Perpetual Investments.
Life insurer and fund manager AMP advanced 2.7 percent to A$6.09 -- its best level since April 2003 -- after paying down another chunk of its debt and saying it plans to return surplus cash through dividends or share buybacks.
Telstra shares rose 1.2 percent to A$5.06, resuming its climb after a pause on Tuesday, continuing to be buoyed by recent news that it would pay a total of A$4.5 billion over the next three years to shareholders.
Among other index heavyweights, diversified miner BHP Billiton edged 0.6 percent higher to A$12.40 despite a fall in most base metals overnight, while global miner Rio Tinto was up 0.3 percent at A$35.60.
But the big four local banks were mixed with National Australia Bank extending recent gains by 0.3 percent to A$30.04, but Commonwealth Bank inched 0.3 percent lower to A$32.97.
Elsewhere, financial services company Challenger Financial Services added 1.2 percent to 44 cents in heavy turnover after announcing a reshuffle in top management with Director Michael Tilley taking over as chief executive.
Chris Cuffe, one of Australia's best known fund manager, will step aside to concentrate on developing the company's wealth management business, it said.
Airline Qantas was weighed down by worries about increased competition in its lucrative London to Sydney route from Virgin Atlantic . Its shares were down 0.3 percent at A$3.39.
In overnight action, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> put on 0.2 percent to 10,395.07, while the technology-laced Nasdaq <.IXIC> climbed 1.0 percent to 1,994.15.
