Australian share prices ended the week at fresh highs and could very likely extend gains into record territory in the week ahead if the market can consolidate Friday's gains, dealers said.
CMC Markets equities analyst David Land said while growth in China's economy and solid commodity prices had led the market higher, Australian stocks were also buoyed by Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average this week broke through 14,000 points for the first time and Land said this could have helped the local market counter previous resistance at the 6,400 points level.
"If it can consolidate around this closing level, that might provide some confidence about the market moving higher," he said. The release of inflation figures are expected to dominate the market in the coming week while investors may also be somewhat cautious at start of the Australian corporate results season, dealers said.
"Of companies producing full-year results, we expect aggregate annual earnings growth of around 18 percent, justifying the current positioning of broad market indices," CommSec chief equities economist Craig James said.
"The historic price-earnings ratio for ASX 200 companies currently stands at 14.94 (times), below the readings recorded at the same point over the past three years." Several major miners will also report production results next week - the world's largest consolidated miner BHP Billiton on Monday, with Zinifex, Lihir Gold and Santos to follow.
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