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By 1pm Sydney time, the S&P/ASX200 index had gained 48 points while the All Ordinaries improved 43 points.
US stocks climbed overnight as bargain hunters entered the market following a three-day losing streak.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 46 points while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended 14 points up.
In Asian trading at 1pm Sydney time, Japan’s Nikkei had lost 104 points while Hong Kong’s market was closed for the second consecutive day for the lunar new year holiday.
Back on the ASX, shares in Telecom Corp of New Zealand slipped to a 14 year low after the company announced its quarterly profit had fallen by 25 per cent.
The company booked an October-December net profit of $A135 million.
Investors clearly weren’t impressed; the share price fell 4.4 per cent or 18 cents this morning.
In other news, RHG, the former RAMS Home Loans Group, finally has some good news for shareholders.
The company said today it is able to repay two extendable funding facilities by their February 11 deadline, helped by a sale of $1 billion worth of mortgages to National Australia Bank.
The asset-backed credit facilities are valued at $6.17 billion. RAMS, hit by the fallout of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, told investors in August last year that it was unable to roll over the facilities.
The RHG share price was up by as much as 22 per cent this morning after the repayment announcement.
Health care equipment provider ResMed has announced a lower first half profit due to higher operating costs and currency appreciation.
While revenue was up 14 per cent to $US338 million, operating costs grew from $US137 million to $US164 million.
Some individual blue chip share prices improved this morning, especially the banks, but the big miners were down at 1pm.
BHP Billiton lost 58 cents, take-over target Rio Tinto slid $1.60. Fortescue Metals added 14 while Zinifex improved 11.
Banking stocks made impressive gains this morning. ANZ jumped 41 cents, Commonwealth gained 97, National Australia Bank improved 45 while Westpac added 23.
Other majors were mostly up. AMP rose two cents, News Corp lost six, Telstra edged up two cents while Woolworths increased 52.
US stocks climbed overnight as bargain hunters entered the market following a three-day losing streak.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 46 points while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended 14 points up.
In Asian trading at 1pm Sydney time, Japan’s Nikkei had lost 104 points while Hong Kong’s market was closed for the second consecutive day for the lunar new year holiday.
Back on the ASX, shares in Telecom Corp of New Zealand slipped to a 14 year low after the company announced its quarterly profit had fallen by 25 per cent.
The company booked an October-December net profit of $A135 million.
Investors clearly weren’t impressed; the share price fell 4.4 per cent or 18 cents this morning.
In other news, RHG, the former RAMS Home Loans Group, finally has some good news for shareholders.
The company said today it is able to repay two extendable funding facilities by their February 11 deadline, helped by a sale of $1 billion worth of mortgages to National Australia Bank.
The asset-backed credit facilities are valued at $6.17 billion. RAMS, hit by the fallout of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, told investors in August last year that it was unable to roll over the facilities.
The RHG share price was up by as much as 22 per cent this morning after the repayment announcement.
Health care equipment provider ResMed has announced a lower first half profit due to higher operating costs and currency appreciation.
While revenue was up 14 per cent to $US338 million, operating costs grew from $US137 million to $US164 million.
Some individual blue chip share prices improved this morning, especially the banks, but the big miners were down at 1pm.
BHP Billiton lost 58 cents, take-over target Rio Tinto slid $1.60. Fortescue Metals added 14 while Zinifex improved 11.
Banking stocks made impressive gains this morning. ANZ jumped 41 cents, Commonwealth gained 97, National Australia Bank improved 45 while Westpac added 23.
Other majors were mostly up. AMP rose two cents, News Corp lost six, Telstra edged up two cents while Woolworths increased 52.
