MW: Australian shares edge higher at start of week
By Sarah Turner
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Australian shares advance in early trading, with the S&P/ASX 200 index AU:XJO +0.13% up 0.1% at 4,557.80. U.S. jobs data out Friday exceeded economists expectations and Chinese data out over the weekend also showed some improvement, setting the stage for gains in Asia trading on Monday. Investors remained cautious, however, buying up telecom firms, with Telstra Corp. AU:TLS +0.23% TTRAF -0.13% up 0.6%. Property firms were also higher, with Australand Property Group AU:ALZ +6.29% up 5.6% after GPT Group AU:GPT +0.83% announced a cash bid for some of the firm's operations.
