August company reporting season has provided enough good news to drive Australian shares up over seven consecutive sessions to a fresh six-year high.
As expected, company results delivered over the past week largely confirmed sluggish earnings growth in the past financial year.
But many businesses expressed optimism about the year ahead. Some big names, including AMP Ltd and Wesfarmers, cheered investors with higher dividends.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index added 1.4 per cent to 5645.6 points, while the broader All Ordinaries Index advanced 1.5 per cent to 5640.5 points over the week. In the absence of any major economic news, a swag of full-year corporate results were in focus.
Australian shares are up 2.4 per cent since the current winning streak began on August 14, helped by a strong lead from the United States with the S&P 500 at an all-time high.
"Shares continued to move up over the past week helped by a combination of good economic data in the US, expectations that central banks will remain supportive and as geopolitics took a back seat. Good earnings results also helped boost Australian equities to a post GFC high," AMP Capital head of investment strategy Shane Oliver said.
On Friday, the local sharemarket added 0.1 per cent. Oil and gas producer Santos was a highlight, adding 3.9 per cent to $15.16 per cent on Friday after announcing a bumper dividend. The stock rose 5.3 per cent over the week.
Energy was the best-performing sector over the week, up 3.6 per cent. Origin Energy lifted 5.6 per cent to $14.84 despite showing a weak full-year profit on Thursday as the company shared a more optimistic outlook for this year.
Financial markets data provider IRESS Ltd was the best-performing stock in the ASX200 over the week, climbing 13.6 per cent to $9.97 after showing a 47.9 per cent pick-up in underlying annual profit on Thursday.
The big four banks diverged over the week. ANZ Banking Group and Westpac Banking Corporation led the market's gains. National Australia Bank dipped after posting a disappointing quarterly trading update on Monday. Commonwealth Bank of Australia also declined. Telecommunications behemoth Telstra Corporation lifted 2.3 per cent to $5.71.
Wesfarmers, owner of Coles, added 2.6 per cent to $44.70, having announced a special dividend on Wednesday. Main rival Woolworths gained 2.5 per cent to $37.02 over the week.
Transpacific Industries had the biggest fall of any stock in the ASX 200 over the week, dumping 14.4 per cent to 93.5¢. Shares in the waste collection company slumped on Tuesday, despite it showing a return to profit and announcing a dividend for the first time since 2008. Of concern was news it will cost $175 million to fix landfills. Then on Tuesday night the company parked its entire fleet after one of its trucks was involved in a fatal crash.
Mining was the weakest sector over the week. Resources giant BHP Billiton lost 3.2 per cent to $37.80 as shareholders mulled the merits of a proposed $16 billion demerger. Rio Tinto added 0.2 per cent to $65.40.
The spot price for iron ore, delivered in China, fell over the week to a two-month low of $US91.90 a tonne. The flash reading of the HSBC-Markit China manufacturing purchasing managers' index released on Thursday dropped to a three-month low, indicating weaker demand growth for Australian iron ore and coal.
Australia's biggest goldminer, Newcrest Mining, dipped 1.4 per cent to $11.04 over the week despite narrowly beating annual profit forecasts on Monday. The spot price of gold closed the week weaker.
