After dropping more than 1 per cent yesterday the Australian share market has recovered some ground and risen 0.4 per cent this morning. The gains come after Wall Street snapped a steep losing streak brought on by fears surrounding emerging market volatility and US earnings season expectations. While US indexes and the price of oil rose overnight precious metal prices slipped ahead of the Federal Reserve's imminent announcement on monetary policy.
Across the local sectors most are higher led by the miners, with only telco services and the gold sub-index defying the trend. Among the stocks Forge Group Limited
(ASX:FGE) has fallen after the engineer revealed another profit downgrade while Drillsearch Energy Limited
(ASX:DLS) has lifted after the oil and gas explorer boosted its annual production guidance.
Figures
The S&P/ASX 200 index has risen 19.9 points to 5,195. On the futures market the SPI is 12 points higher.
Company news
Atlas Iron Limited
(ASX:AGO) has increased its annual guidance after citing record shipments and strong prices for aiding its December quarter and first half result. The iron ore miner has also today spruiked exploration and resource development success from its projects in the North Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Entertainment provider Ardent Leisure Group
(ASX:AAD) says it has accelerated its US portfolio growth through securing six new sites for its Main Event family entertainment division and continuing negotiations for an extra four sites.
Automotive retail group AP Eagers Limited
(ASX:APE) has flagged a record profit result for the 2013 financial year. Net profit is expected to have grown 15 per cent to $64 million when the final result is released on February 26, 2014.
Shares in Red Mountain Mining Limited
(ASX:RMX) have continued to rally after the explorer said it had uncovered more exceptional gold surface results in the Philippines. The company’s stock is up more than 25 per cent today having risen about 500 per cent this month.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector is materials, gaining 91 points to 9,995. Shares in Atlas Iron Limited
(ASX:AGO) have risen 7.33 per cent and trading at $1.02. Shares BlueScope Steel Limited
(ASX:BSL) and BC Iron Limited
(ASX:BCI) are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is telco services, falling 7.8 points to 1,771. Shares in Telecom Corp of New Zealand
(ASX:TEL) have eased 0.9 per cent, trading at $2.21. Shares in Telstra Corporation Limited
(ASX:TLS) and TPG Telecom Limited
(ASX:TPM) are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is buying $US1,253 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.8801.
