The Australian share market staged a late rally this afternoon to close sharply higher as bargain hunters snapped up stocks. A strong finish on Wall Street on Friday has boosted investor confidence, but market volatility remains over the Euro and the European sovereign debt crisis.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index finished the day 90 points higher at 4,395. While on the futures market, the SPI200’s up 117.
In economic news: Sales of new motor vehicles surged 8.4% in April according to the ABS, marking the biggest monthly increase in nearly a decade. On a seasonally adjusted basis, 90,935 vehicles were sold last month, up from 83,876 in March.
To company news around this afternoon: Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW) has agreed to pay $40 million to acquire the business and assets of Gunns Ltd in Tasmania. Gunns intends to sell its hardware retail business to John Danks & Son Pty Ltd, a wholly owned business of the home improvement joint venture between Woolworths and Lowe’s Companies Inc. The acquisition includes five hardware stores in Tasmania, one timber joinery centre, one truss manufacturing plant and a support office. Gunns says the agreement came after a competitive bid process, which assessed offers from various parties. Danks has also agreed to acquire the Becks Timber & Hardware business. Shares in Woolworths closed 1.33% higher at $26.73.
Transurban Group Ltd (ASX:TCL) has revealed that while it took recent takeover offers seriously, they did not reflect the company’s growth prospects. The toll road operator has expressed its reasons for rejecting a sweetened $7.2 billion takeover bid from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in a letter to shareholders. The company says it has a clear view of its long-term value and does not believe the premium being offered to acquire the company under the takeover proposals was sufficient to compensate shareholders. In the letter, Chairman David Ryan said the toll road operator was in the best shape it had ever been in thanks to an attractive pipeline of growth projects and a healthy balance sheet. Mr Ryan said he was confident that the company’s earnings and cashflow would improve significantly over the next three to five years. Transurban Group shares closed 0.68% stronger at $4.41.
Also making news: Shares in West Australian miner Hunnu Coal Ltd (ASX:HUN) have been placed in a trading halt pending an announcement to the market regarding its focus on acquiring and developing coal projects in Mongolia.
And ANZ Bank Ltd (ASX:ANZ) has opened a new sub-branch in Nagoya, Japan, as part of its growth strategy targeting affluent wealth management clients in the country.
Taking a look at some of our earlier reports: The board of Healthscope Ltd (ASX:HSP) has given the green light to a private equity consortium to conduct due diligence on the company.
And Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) says it is reviewing all investments in Australia and has described the country as its top sovereign risk as its continues to digest the impact of the federal government’s planned mining tax.
In the best and worst performers: The best performing sector at close was the Financials excluding the Real Estate Investment Trust index, up 148 points at 5,114. The worst performing sector at close was the Health Care index; down 33 points at 8,037.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ ASX200 was Murchison Metals, shares rose 8.99% to $2, while shares in St Barbara and Macmahon Holdings also closed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX200 today was Graincorp, shares dropped 3.65% to $5.28. Shares in Emeco Holdings and Mirabela Nickel also closed weaker today.
In commodities, gold is trading at $1,189.90 U.S an ounce, and light crude is up $0.77 to $70.81 U.S a barrel.
