Australian sharemarket edges towards 6000 points

The ASX has continued its rise in the wake of positive Wall St momentum and amid a strong performance by telcos.

The ASX got a boost from telcos today.

The Australian share market has continued its rise in the wake of positive Wall Street momentum and a strong performance by local telecommunication companies.

At midday (AEDT) the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index was up 6.3 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 5,913.3 points, as the telecommunication services sector rose 1.5 per cent in the early session.

The broader All Ordinaries index was up 6 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,974.6 points.

This morning, shares in the major telcos responded positively to the Australian Consumer Competition Commission’s decision not to set prices in allowing mobile competitors to roam on Telstra’s regional network. Telstra was ahead by five cents, or 1.5 per cent, at $3.57, while competitor TPG Telecom lifted six cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $5.21.

Vocus Group, owner of retail brands dodo and iPrimus, today announced plans to sell its New Zealand business, with proceeds to help cut debt as the company moves to recover from heavy writedowns suffered in 2016/17 on recent acquisitions.

Vocus shares were up 1.1 per cent, at $2.84.

With the Dow Jones pushing to record highs once again, closing at 23,328 on Friday, and the US Senate passing a bill that moves President Donald Trump’s long-awaited tax reforms a step closer, the local market had a strong positive lead.

Although global oil prices continue to rise against a backdrop of reduced flow from the oil-rich Kirkuk fields in Iraqi-Kurdistan, the sector as a whole was only ahead by 0.36 per cent, led by Woodside Petroleum, up 0.7 per cent at $29.55.

Santos was ahead 0.35 per cent, while Oil Search was 0.2 per cent better off after news that Keith Spence had resigned as a non-executive director of Oil Search to join rival oil and gas producer Santos as chairman.

Australia’s iron ore miners were mixed with BHP Billiton down 0.45 per cent and Rio Tinto up 0.2 per cent.

The big four banks were all ahead, led by National Australia Bank which was up 0.4 per cent.

ANZ gained 0.25 per cent after saying it had settled with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on the first day of a trial over alleged interest rate rigging.

Myer was 0.7 per cent lower, at 74.5 cents, after its annual report showed that its under fire chief executive, Richard Umbers, received a $1.7 million package in the 2017 financial year.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar slipped against the greenback, which strengthened on hopes for President Trump’s tax plan.

At noon (AEDT) the local currency was trading at US78.08 cents, from US78.45c on Friday.

AAP