Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon October 24, 2014

An office worker is reflected in the window of the Australian Securities Exchange building displaying the ASX50 curve for Wednesday in central Sydney August 7, 2013. Australian shares skidded 1.3 percent on Wednesday, its biggest fall in five weeks, hit by sharp falls in miners and financials as regional markets tracked a soft Wall Street lead amid uncertainty about the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus programme REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (AUSTRALIA - Tags: BUSINESS)

 Australian shares improved for the fourth time this week, taking the gains for the five days to 2.65 per cent. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 0.55 per cent today with no sectors missing out on the gains.

 Global markets improved overnight with the Dow up 1.3 per cent, the S&P500 gaining 1.2 per cent and the tech specific NASDAQ up 1.6 per cent.

 ResMed (RMD) surged by 6.5 per cent after recording a 6 per cent rise in quarterly revenue to $380m. Net profit rose to $83.3m. The release of new products over the past three months helped boost income. RMD shares improved by 34 per cent last year and 59 per cent in 2012.

 Banks all finished firmer with Commonwealth Bank (CBA) up 0.77 per cent, National Australia Bank (NAB) up 0.68 per cent, Westpac (WBC) up 0.56 per cent and ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) edged higher by 0.27 per cent.

 Profit results from three of the four major banks will be in focus over the next few weeks. NAB will be posting its earnings next week on 30th October, ANZ on 31st October and WBC on 3rd November. All three are expected to trade ex-dividend by the middle of next month which could push markets a little lower on their ex dates.

 Quickflix (QFX) shares finished unchanged today as it held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) with shareholders. The TV and movie subscription company had posted a $10.2m loss last year due to higher marketing costs and its shares have slumped by 41 per cent this year.

 No major economic news was released in the region today. Next week the focus will be on the US Federal Reserve's monthly meeting mid-week. This could be the end of Quantitative Easing. Quarterly US economic growth on October 30 will also be a highlight.

 Volume picked up a little this afternoon with 1.9bn shares traded worth $4.4bn. 535 stocks finished higher, 370 in the red and 363 are unchanged.

 Tonight, new home sales for September will be issued. 73 companies are releasing their profit results tonight including Proctor & Gamble, United Parcel Service and Wynne Resorts. UK GDP numbers will be released tonight at 7.30pm (AEDT).

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