Market Report: Cautious end to upbeat week

The Australian stock market finished the week up one percent, although thin trade volumes today suggested that investors were exercising caution amid ongoing global uncertainty.

At the today’s close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 24.6 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 4551.9, while the All Ordinaries index rose 27.1 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 4574.1. The best performing sectors were materials, followed by financials and energy stocks.

U.S. stocks rose in a late rally on Thursday, overcoming weak economic data that added to worries about a fragile recovery, while European shares and the euro gained on reassuring demand for Spanish government bonds.

Following the U.S lead Asian stocks rose almost a percent today to finish the week up 3.6 percent.

Looking at the Australian biotech sector it was a pretty quiet week with nothing much in the way of major company announcements. Friday’s best performer was cardiac catheter specialists CathRx, which rose 15.38 percent to close at $0.30. Next best was anti-infective drug company Biota Holdings which rose 3.91 percent to close at $1.20, followed by cancer company Prima Biomed which gained 3.7 percent to close the day at $0.14.

ResMed saw the highest volumes today, with nearly half a million shares traded. The stock fell 1.16 percent to close at $64.70. Looking at the other large players CSL was up nearly half a percent to $33.54, while Cochlear lost six cents to close at $77.60.