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MELBOURNE - The Australian share market closed marginally higher after a directionless day on the local bourse following falls on Wall Street on Friday.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was just 4.6 points higher at 5355.7, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 8.5 points to 5409.7.
At 1615 AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index contract was 13 points lower at 5416 on a volume of 21,166 contracts.
CMC Markets senior dealer Dominic Vaughan said there was the potential for the market to climb higher, despite continuing volatility on the local bourse.
"Considering the US was down on Friday night, we've performed okay today," Mr Vaughan said.
"At these levels, the market is unsure what to do with itself.
"There is the possibility of further upside in the market, maybe back up through 5400 (points), some people are talking 5550 to 5600 points."
The market got off to a positive start despite a poor lead from Wall Street on Friday when the Dow Jones industrial average dropped by 86.06 points, or 0.7 per cent, to close at 12,216.40.
The banking sector was mixed, with National Australia Bank gaining 19 cents to $30.15, Commonwealth Bank shedding 90 cents to $41.81, ANZ losing 63 cents to $22.55 and Westpac dropping 15 cents to $23.75.
The retailers were mixed, with Wesfarmers adding 98 cents to $39.99, David Jones putting on six cents to $3.64, Harvey Norman gaining 11 cents to $3.91 and Woolworths dropping 30 cents to $29.00.
Retail mogul Solomon Lew has put up a $900 million takeover offer for Just Group, confirming long-held speculation the billionaire investor had designs on the clothing firm.
Just Group picked up 44 cents to $3.96 on the news while Mr Lew's listed investment firm Premier Investments was steady at $7.90.
Meanwhile, Virgin Blue Group has launched a three-class international airline, V Australia, with a daily direct route between Sydney and Los Angeles from December, undercutting many of Qantas' fares on the route by more than half.
Virgin Blue dipped one cent to $1.24 while rival Qantas lost three cents to $3.93.
The media sector was mixed, with Consolidated Media Holdings adding three cents to $3.73, News Corp dropping 27 cents to $20.50, its non-voting shares falling 22 cents to $20.13 and Fairfax losing three cents to $3.47.
The energy sector was mixed, with Woodside gaining $1.00 to $54.50, Santos putting on 12 cents to $14.50 and Oil Search steady at $4.83.
Woodside, the operator of the North West Shelf Venture off the coast of Western Australia, said today the project participants had approved a $5 billion expansion to extend the life of the operation.
The big miners were weaker, with BHP Billiton losing 24 cents to $35.81 and rival Rio Tinto losing 40 cents to $122.50.
The spot price of gold was lower and at 1627 AEDT was trading at US$933.20 an ounce, down US$12.20 on Friday's local close of US$945.40 an ounce.
The gold miners were weaker, with Newcrest falling 74 cents to $33.37, Lihir dropping 13 cents to $3.59 and Newmont losing three cents to $5.07.
Junior explorer Admiralty Resources was the most traded stock on the market today, with 57.35 million shares changing hands, collectively worth $10.6 million.
Admiralty lost 1.5 cents to close at 19 cents.
Preliminary market turnover reached 1.36 billion worth $5.29 billion, with 542 stocks up, 636 stocks down and 308 unchanged.
- AAP
