Tatts Group Limited

US stocks closed slightly higher on a strong sign of recovery in US housing sector. The Commerce Department said on Monday that sales of new homes rose by 11% in June. Earning news dominated the market in recent trading sessions with most of the reports beating the expectation.

On Wednesday, the Australian sharemarket closed lower despite a positive start led by rally on Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 23.6 points, or 0.67 per cent, at 3,499.63 while the broader All Ordinaries index shed 29.9 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 3,483.23. The market has lost half its value, or A$804 billion in just over one year. Analysts say that the overall trend may not change without catalyst for the market to go up while the overseas will pull the Australia market lower each time it seems to hit the bottom.

In early trade today, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had risen as much as 60.8 points, or 1.2%, to 5047.0 with financial stocks leading the way, as the Wall Street lifted more than 302 points on Friday night. Wall Street's rally was a result of a surge in the US dollar and a drop in oil prices, which fell below $US115 a barrel for the first time since May.

The Australian share market is expected to open lower today after Wall St fell over one per cent on Friday. On the Sydney Futures exchange, the September share price index futures contract lost 74 points, or 1.49 per cent, to 4,880.
The Australian share market rose 0.9 per cent on Friday as resource stocks, led by gold and oil companies, surged on higher commodity prices and the banks pared early losses.