Australian stocks: Market ends at fresh high

SYDNEY - The Australian sharemarket ended at a fresh record yesterday as earnings season optimism continued to draw in buyers.

The market is fast marching towards the 4200 level, after again hitting new record highs on expectations of a strong round of company reports.

The S&P/ASX200 lifted 27.8 points to a new closing high of 4189.6 while the All Ordinaries marched ahead 26.7 points to a high of 4182.9.

Bell Potter senior adviser Stuart Smith said the weight of cash in the market was very strong, but the market could be in danger of getting ahead of itself.

"The weight of cash is pushing this market higher than the futures want to go," he said.

Share price index contracts, which are often seen as lead indicators of the market's future direction, are trading below the underlying index, suggesting the market could be overshooting.

Telstra led the charge in the industrial sector to post its best closing level in more than three years.

"Telstra is definitely in favour after analysts upgraded their valuations," Smith said.

The stock ended up 6Ac at A$5.16 on hefty turnover of 21 million shares worth more than A$100 million.

In the media sector, Austar ended down 2Ac to 86Ac after reporting a 52 per cent fall in calendar 2004 net profit.

- AAP