SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - Australian shares are expected to open slightly higher Monday as investors seek bargains after recent market weakness.
'There's good value but we will just have to see where today takes us,' said Stuart Smith, a private client advisor at Bell Potter Securities.
He said selective buying of resources stocks should lead the market higher following gains in commodity prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 March futures contract ended its last session up 43 points at 5,563, suggesting a positive start to trading.
On Friday shares prices ended lower on concerns about the banking sector due to rising funding costs.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed down 23.5 points or 0.4 percent at 5,559.94. The All Ordinaries ended 18.5 points or 0.3 percent lower at 5,644.5.
In the US share prices staged a dramatic turnaround on Friday, rising after word that a bailout plan for troubled bond insurer Ambac Financial could be announced this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 96.72 points or 0.8 percent at 12,381.02.
News Corp closed up 0.9 percent.
In London share prices were lower Friday as weakness in mining stocks weighed on the market. The FTSE 100 ended down 43.7 points or 0.7 percent at 5,888.5.
BHP Billiton ended down 1.9 percent and Rio Tinto lost 2.4 percent.
Crude oil prices moved over 100 dollars a barrel last week on supply concerns with demand still strong in emerging economies such as China and India. On Friday light, sweet crude for April delivery settled up 58 cents at 98.81 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on concerns about potential supply disruptions and cold weather.
Gold prices remained at record levels. Reflecting strong prices for the precious metal US-listed miner Barrick Gold Corp, the world's largest producer of the precious metal, reported a 28 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit, citing surging bullion prices.
Copper prices were stronger due to still strong demand in countries such as China. The World Bureau of Base Metal Statistics said that there was record deficit in 2007 of 161,000 tonnes for the metal compared with a 278,000-tonne surplus in 2006.
(1 US dollar = 1.08 Australian dollars)
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