Stocks close in the black

The local market has ended marginally higher after lifting in afternoon deals.

The Australian sharemarket has finished marginally in the black, lifting in afternoon deals on the back of a positive response to BHP’s earnings report.

At the closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index inched up 3 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 5,535, while the broader All Ordinaries index tacked on 2.4 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 5,628.1.

CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said the local market was in “relatively neutral mode” as earnings season kicked into gear.

“While it’s very early days, results have so far been mixed but good enough to support the ASX 200 around current levels,” he said.

“Around half the major companies reporting to date have achieved positive surprises.”

Among them was BHP, with the mining giant topping market forecasts despite delivering its largest headline loss on record.

“BHP Billiton’s result has helped provide a relatively supportive tone for materials stocks,” Mr Spooner said.

“It contained no major surprises with underlying earnings achieving a slight beat on consensus expectations. The period of major write downs now looks to be behind BHP.”

The miner ended the session up 3.3 per cent to $20.91, while rival Rio Tinto jumped 2.3 per cent to $49.56 and iron ore miner Fortescue advanced 1.3 per cent to $4.58.

The persistent buying interest in the resources space helped the market turn around morning losses by the close.

The energy sector outshone materials given weakness in the gold space, with a fourth day of gains in crude prices helping the big names in the industry rise an average 1.9 per cent.

Santos lifted 0.82 per cent to $4.94, Woodside surged 2.4 per cent to $28.30 and Origin rose 1.7 per cent to $5.84.

Weakness was seen in the financials space, owing to Commonwealth Bank trading ex-dividend, while the laggard was healthcare as CSL’s outlook disappointed.

Commonwealth Bank shares slumped 2.6 per cent to $74.04, wiping 13 points from the index.

In contrast, the remainder of the big four enjoyed a strong day, with Westpac and NAB leaping 1.5 per cent and ANZ climbing 0.7 per cent.

Earnings season was in full flight, with arguably the busiest day yet for traders to analyse.

Healthcare giant CSL tumbled 5 per cent as investors fretted about the strength of its guidance, while insurer QBE plunged 8 per cent after detailing a 46 per cent dive in profit and property group Stockland weakened 1.4 per cent despite beating forecasts.

There was better news for Crown Resorts as it surged 4.5 per cent on a modest earnings beat, while Sonic Healthcare bounded 6 per cent as it booked a 30 per cent lift in earnings.

The rapid rise in Sonic’s share price was not enough to counter the impact of CSL’s fall on the healthcare sector, with the subindex sliding 1.9 per cent.

Elsewhere, cleaning and catering services group Spotless nosedived 10.6 per cent as it abandoned a sale of its laundries business.

Among blue chips, Telstra rebounded 0.18 per cent to $5.44, while Qantas edged up 0.3 per cent to $3.35.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar edged down to US76.75c by the end of local trade despite Moody’s detailing a ‘stable outlook’ for the nation’s credit rating.