By Sarah Turner
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Australian shares gained ground broadly in early trading on Wednesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 index up 0.5% at 4,694.70. Advancers included telecom firm Telstra Corp. Ltd (AU:TLS 2.68, -0.02, -0.74%) (TTRAF 2.65, +0.05, +1.92%) , which climbed 2.2% after it said it can continue to pay a 28 Australian cent (27 U.S. cents) per share annual dividend, if it chooses to do so. Miners were also gaining ground, with both Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:BHP 39.49, +0.06, +0.15%) (RTP 59.60, +1.12, +1.92%) and BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP 39.49, +0.06, +0.15%) (BHP 76.97, +1.29, +1.70%) shares up 1% each, as most metal futures advanced in electronic trading. Financials, also leveraged to economic growth, were on the move with AMP Ltd. (AU:AMP 5.18, -0.05, -0.96%) (AMLTF 4.41, -0.21, -4.55%) shares up 0.8%. |
