Stocks close in the black

The local market has notched up a fourth consecutive gain, despite a mixed response to earnings reports.

The Australian sharemarket has ended higher for a fourth day, despite several big names tanking after delivering mixed earnings results.

At the closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index had lifted 14.7 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 5,552.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index inched up 11 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 5,636.7.

The modest gains were driven by strong interest in the big banks, mining giants and energy behemoths, although the advance was capped by a sell-off in the shares of IOOF, Cochlear, REA Group and Transurban after they delivered profit updates to the market.

Financial services group IOOF plunged 7.3 per cent as its underlying profit was seen steady through fiscal 2016, while high-flying biotech Cochlear slumped 2.9 per cent despite delivering earnings at the upper end of its guidance.

At one stage IOOF traded down over 8 per cent, its worst fall in over a year.

In media, News Corp bucked the trend to rise 1.2 per cent as it raised revenues and REA Group weakened 1.1 per cent on flat volumes.

REA and Cochlear were both hurt by lofty expectations, with the two groups trading on high earnings multiples.

Transurban also saw lacklustre post-reporting trade, moving 1.4 per cent lower despite swinging to a full-year profit and slamming talk of any risk to its hold over Melbourne’s CityLink toll road.

ANZ, in contrast, received plenty of support following the release of an earnings update, although it merely released quarterly numbers.

Still, investors were cheered by news of steady margins despite a 3 per cent fall in cash profit, sending its shares up 2.9 per cent.

It paced a strong session for financials, with NAB climbing 2.2 per cent, CBA rising 1.6 per cent and Westpac climbing 1.8 per cent.

In energy, Santos jumped 1.7 per cent at $4.76 and Woodside advanced 1.1 per cent at $27.70 as oil prices were boosted by renewed hopes of supply cuts from oil cartel OPEC.

“News that OPEC would be having a September meeting with certain members keen to push for supply cuts again served as the impetus for oil prices to rally,” IG market analyst Angus Nicholson said.

“While a deal is highly unlikely to eventuate, the fact that it is even being mentioned shows how much difficulty the past month’s renewed sell-off was causing many struggling OPEC members.”

In mining, BHP tacked on 0.54 per cent gain to $20.59, Rio Tinto gained 1.6 per cent to $50.90 and Fortescue edged up 0.21 per cent to $4.68.

Mr Nicholson added there was little to suggest the good run for mining stocks would end in the near-term.

“With Japan committing to aggressive fiscal stimulus, the UK likely to announce a major fiscal package at the ‘Autumn Statement’ and the potential for the EU to look into fiscal measures as well, now does not seem like a good time to be betting against commodity prices or commodity-related firms,” he said.

Among blue chips, Telstra rallied 0.71 per cent to $5.65 and Qantas eased 0.63 per cent to $3.17.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar fell to US76.3c at the close of local trade, weighed by NAB’s revised forecasts of rate cuts and, potentially, QE from the Reserve Bank.