AUSTRALIAN stocks have opened higher, led by strong gains from the big banks and supermarket chains.
Local market players took their cues from a positive night on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P500 posted fresh highs. However, the rise on the local market was not as great as US stocks, suggesting investors may be holding back slightly ahead of the Australian jobs figures due at 11.30am AEST.
Financial stocks were up one per cent at the start of trade, with bank stocks rebounding from yesterday's falls. ANZ was 28 cents higher at $28.53 while CBA rose 53 cents to $67.83, NAB climbed 28.5 cents to $31.485 and Westpac leapt 44 cents to $31.37.
Woolworths gained after reporting a 2.5 per cent rise in quarterly sales to $14.4 billion. Woolworths was up 27 cents at $34.16, while Coles owner Wesfarmers had advanced 20 cents to $40.32.
Lonsec senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said retailers such as Woolworths and Coles had "certainly stepped on the gas in the last couple of months".
"This report today I think just consolidates the respect with which these stocks are being held now," he said. "The result has gone down particularly well with the market."
Meanwhile, investors are awaiting the release of the Australian Bureau of Statistics' jobs figures for March at 11.30am AEST. Economists expected the nation to have lost 7500 jobs in the month, with the unemployment rate tipped to remain steady at 5.4 per cent.
Market players would also be looking at any revisions to the previous month's figure, which showed Australia added a surprisingly high 71,000 jobs in February.
"I think there could be a bit of angst about the unemployment figures," Mr Heffernan said.
KEY FACTS
* At 10.25am AEST today, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 31.6 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 4999.6 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 31.3 points, or 0.63 per cent, at 5005 points.
* The June share price index futures contract was up 37 points at 5001 points, with 6666 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 208.2 million securities worth $435.8 million.
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