Stocks edge up ahead of UK vote

The local market is cautiously confident, with iron ore stocks jumping on a higher spot price.

The Australian sharemarket has ticked up in a second day of quiet trade as investors maintain take a cautious approach ahead of tonight’s “Brexit” vote.

At the 4.15pm (AEST) official market close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was 9.8 points, or 0.19 per cent, higher to 5280.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index had ticked up 9.1 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 5358.6.

Iron ore stocks led the market higher after its spot price lifted 2.8 per cent ahead of the session, Fortescue soaring 8.3 per cent to $3.53, Rio Tinto jumping 2.7 per cent to $45.80 and BHP Billiton adding 1.8 per cent to $19.05.

IG market analyst Angus Nicholson said it had been the best performance for iron ore in two weeks.

The benchmark had opened a third of a percentage point higher but pared gains bank-dominated financial stocks retreated from a positive start, the big four ending largely flat.

“Even though the market is predicting a victory for the Remain side and the central banks around the globe are showing their bravado to support the [volatility] market with liquidity, investors are still profoundly cautious,” Think Forex chief market analyst Naeem Aslam said.

ANZ edged 0.16 per cent higher to $24.44 while CBA slipped 0.07 per cent to $75.02. NAB eased 0.16 per cent to $25.58 while Westpac was off 0.07 per cent to $29.65.

Today’s close follows a flat finish yesterday, after the sharemarket had risen strongly in the prior three session on diminishing odds of a Brexit win.

Also lifting the market were energy stocks as oil prices in the Asian session pared losses from Wednesday night, Brent crude up 0.8 per cent at $US50.28 in early afternoon trade.

The sector closed 0.7 per cent higher as Woodside Petroleum lifted 0.76 per cent to $26.60 and Santos added 0.61 per cent to $4.95.

On the negative side of the ledger, Telstra and Woolworths weighed. Telstra closed down 0.74 per cent to $5.34 after the telco announced the completion of its $US1.6 billion sale of its automotive website Autohome stake to a Chinese firm as it fended off ongoing Cayman Islands-based litigation over the deal from some shareholders.

Woolworths fell 0.71 per cent to $20.85 as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged one its contractors had underpaid four cleaners servicing the supermarket giant. But the consumer staples sector lifted 0.24 pe rcent as Coles-owner Wesfarmers jumped 1.14 per cent to $40.80.

In other trading, online job classifieds company Seek dropped 5.43 per cent to $15.32 after it took full ownership of Brasil Online for $104m and shelled out $78m to boost its stake in Seek Asia, with analysts concerned it would weigh on the company’s earnings next year as Seek said its guidance for 2015-16 would be unchanged.

Sims Metal Management, meanwhile, lifted 2.23 per cent as it forecast firmer metal prices and stronger sales in the fourth quarter and earnings to swing to an underlying profit for the second half.

And Whitehaven Coal soared 10.35 per cent to $1.12 as Morgan Stanley analysts boosted its price target 60 per cent to $1.60 on expectations of growing demand from Asia for its higher-quality thermal coal as the nations there switch to more-efficient power plants.

Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was trading at US75.31c at the sharemarket close, up from 75.01c at the open while bourses across the region were mixed ahead of the UK vote.

Looking ahead, polls close in the UK’s much-anticipated Brexit referendum tomorrow at 7am (AEST) with analysts expecting the result to be clear around lunchtime, Australian time. Elsewhere tomorrow, building products firm CSR hosts its annual general meeting in Sydney.