The Australian stock market has hit a fresh five-year high, following Wall Street’s positive overnight lead.
The market is around a third of a per cent higher which, following gains in the past two days, has pushed it to its highest level since mid-2008.
Rivkin global analyst Tim Radford said local stocks were taking their lead from US markets, where investors had taken advantage of a slide in prices over the past week.
Mr Radford said traders were putting aside concern about budget talks between Republicans and Democrats in the US.
If the two sides cannot reach an agreement by the start of the new budget on October 1, the US Federal government will face a shutdown.
“Obviously, there is some concern about whether Republicans and Democrats will come to an agreement over the budget this weekend,” Mr Radford said.
“But I think markets can see they will come to an agreement, they (Congress) won’t let the federal government shut down.”
Mr Radford said the local market was likely to close higher on Friday, though there could be a period of weakness ahead in October.
“We are entering a seasonally weak period in the markets, so I do expect there to be some sort of correction over the next month, though I don’t think it will be anything substantial,” he said.
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The big four banks were all higher, with ANZ up 16 cents at $31.72, Westpac gaining 11 cents to $33.48, National Australia Bank lifting seven cents to $35.40 and Commonwealth Bank climbing 42 cents to $73.63.
Among the big miners, BHP was down three cents at $36.32 while Rio Tinto had gained 21 cents to $63.60.
Telstra shares were up three cents to $4.99.
