Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited

Uranium developer, Toro Energy Limited (ASX:TOE) (PINK:TOEYF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Martin Janes to the role of General Manager - Marketing and Project Finance, as part of the Company's senior management team based in Adelaide.

Australian shares dropped on Monday as investors were nervous ahead of the EU meeting over Greek debt. Trading was quiet in local market while most Asian bourses were closed for Lunar New Year on Monday, Wall Street also closed because of a public holiday. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 16.6 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 4545.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index shed 18.4 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 4570.4.

Wall Street closed higher overnight on investors' buying in industrial and materials stocks. Meanwhile, the fears of trade dispute between the US and China was offset by the news that a Chinese wealth fund is in talks to take over a minority stake in the US power plant AES.

An encouraging employment report sent the US stocks to a more than nine months high on Friday. The Labor Department released a report that the country's unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 9.4 per cent, its first decline in 15 months.

Wall Street closed at a nine-month high overnight boosted by earnings reports and encouraging economic data in US manufacturing activity and new car sales. Energy and materials companies also broadly lifted the market.

Wall Street ended modestly lower overnight after the Shanghai stock market slumped 5 per cent, a biggest single day decline of the year in China. The US stocks were also hit by the Commerce Department data that new orders for US manufactured durable goods fell 2.5 per cent in June.

Yesterday the Australian shares ended lower dragged by financial stocks after the lifting the eight-month short-selling ban. The market was also hit by news of a nuclear weapon test by North Korea. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 23.7 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 3737.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 20.1 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 3735.3.

Australian shares posted a strong gain yesterday. The better-than-expected employment data also boosted the stocks market. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 1.9%, or 71.6 points, at 3938.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 1.9%, or 72 points, at 3912.1.

On Friday, the Australian shares closed higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 climbed 55.4 points, or 1.51 per cent, at 3,735.6, while the broader All Ordinaries surged 51.8 points, or 1.43 per cent, to 3,674. This week the focus of the local market will be the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision.

Yesterday the Australian shares surged on hope of the US bailout plan to remove bad debts from banks. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index ended 2.4% higher, or 84.5 points at 3550.3, a six-week high, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up2.3%, or 78.1 points, at 3483.1. Investors are getting more confident to return to the stocks market as they believe it has hit the bottom. But analysts warned that fundamental issues in economy have not been solved and it will not be a long term rally although the market is in the third week of rises.