Australian stocks were expected to make a quiet entry into 2010, analysts said Thursday, ahead of the release of corporate earnings reports in February. For the shortened trading week ending December 31, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 79.7 points, or 1.66 percent, at 4,870.6. The index gained 31 percent in 2009.
Marcus Droga, senior private client adviser at Macquarie Private Wealth, said encouraging data out of the United States had helped firm the Australian market.
"Investors are hesitant to sell good stocks at the moment," he told Dow Jones Newswires. Commsec chief economist Craig James said he expected the stock market to continue to gain in 2010, but that many investors could wait until they saw company earnings results.
"The next opportunity to basically see that is February when we get the next earnings season," he said. James said he expected the SP/ASX200 index to reach 5,300 points by mid-year and 5,600 by the end of the year as the Australian economy benefits from strong growth in China and a growing population. Other analysts said going into 2010, one of the biggest movers of the Australian market would be value of the US dollar.