Seven Network Limited

The Australian shares opened higher on Tuesday despite most Asian markets dropped in early trade. Miners were boosted by stronger copper and gold prices. Most Asian markets yesterday rose as sentiment was improved after prospects of a European Union and the International Monetary Fund bailout for Greece. The Australian sharemarket was closed on Monday for a public holiday. In economic news today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is due to unveil producer price indices (PPI) for March quarter. The National Australia Bank releases its business confidence survey for the March quarter.

Two of Seven Network Ltd's (ASX:SEV) largest independent shareholders have agreed to support the merger of the television network and industrial equipment company WesTrac Holdings after extracting better terms for the deal. Seven Network's key institutional shareholders Ausbil Dexia and Perennial Value represent around 28.1% of shares outside those held by ACE, Kerry Stokes' private vehicle.

Australian shares rallied on Monday with gains in resources stocks helped to lift the market. The better-than-expected corporate earnings also fueled the rise. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 82.4 points, or 1.8 per cent higher, at 4717.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 76.4 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 4732.7.

Wall Street declined modestly overnight as bearish analyst comments hurt bank shares. Analysts with UBS predicted the capital market's seasonal slowing could come earlier this year, cutting its fourth-quarter earnings target for Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and others.

US stocks overnight closed at a new high for the year as the G20 finance ministers and central bankers pledged to keep stimulus measures until a recovery was certain. Dow jumped more than 200 points for the session, with 29 of the index's 30 components finished in the green.

Dow index hit a fresh 2009 high on Friday after the earnings season kicked off. Upbeat forecasts on IT giants IBM and Intel fueled the market's growing expectations over a profit recovery. S&P's 500 and Nasdaq both gained more than 4.5 per cent for the week.

Wall Street continued its gains for a fifth day on Thursday on some upbeat economic data and corporate guidance. The Commerce Department's report showed a sign of consumer spending pickup as US trade volume and imports surged. A separate report said jobless claims fell to 550,000 in the past week.

Wall Street was higher on Friday as a government report showed that the pace of job losses slowed in August. But the US stocks were still in negative territory for the week with the worst performance since early July.

Wall Street overnight extended its losses after a disappointing non-farm payrolls report in August, which raised concerns over the coming key reports on employment this week. US private sector slashed 298,000 jobs in August, a faster rate than economists' forecast.

Overnight Wall Street was up on economic data, positive earnings and the nomination of Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke to serve a second term. The Conference Board's August index of consumer confidence rose for a second month, exceeding economists' forecast.