Australian Shares Stronger at Noon

Yahoo! Australia & NZ Finance Asian Financial News

Tuesday 9 November 2:00 AM

Australian Shares Stronger at Noon - Nov 9, 2004

SYDNEY, Nov 9 Asia Pulse - The Australian share market continued to firm to noon on the back of increased corporate activity after the Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday indicated interest rates will remain on hold until next year.

By noon AEDT the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 lifted 10.9 points to 3832.2.

The all ordinaries gained 10.9 points to 3843.8 while on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December SPI 200 futures contract was seven points ahead at 3842.0 - a 9.8 point premium to the underlying index - on a volume of 5,247.

"The market has firmed up a lot this morning," said Macquarie Equities adviser David Halliday.

"There has been a lot of corporate activity and the market has also been aided the rising Australian dollar.

"The Reserve Bank's decision to leave interest rates alone until next year has also helped to firm the market."

Mr Halliday said shares in market heavyweight News Corp were on the rise after yesterday's big fall.

The company's stock lifted the bourse as the ordinary shares 38 cents to $23.07 and its non voting stock added 22 cents to $22.37.

In New York blue-chip and tech stocks ended slightly higher overnight as investors paused after last week's election rally and braced for interest rate hikes.

But the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index finished lower, breaking a nine day streak of gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.77 points to 10,391.31, a four month high.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 1.28 points to 1,164.89 while the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.31 of a point at 2,039.25.

ASIA PULSE

Later Story:	Singapore Stocks Down in Early Trade - Nov 9, 2004 (Asia Pulse)
Earlier Story:	Seoul Shares Begin Steady - Nov 9, 2004 (Asia Pulse)

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