A Virgin plane was grounded this morning in Sydney but the Australian Federal Police has declined to comment on speculation of a bomb threat.
The Australian Federal Police said the incident was being treated seriously and all passengers and crew have been safely removed from the aircraft.
“There is no danger to the travelling public,” the AFP told AAP.
The plane was bound for Adelaide.
The Australian sharemarket has followed the US market higher this morning, and responding to better-than-expected company results, after diving yesterday on weak retail sales.
At 11.38, the S&P/ASX200 was 0.27% higher at 4344.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index was 0.26% higher to 4419.
CMC Markets market analyst Ben Le Brun says the Australian sharemarket was “still trading on its lows for the year and although we may get some respite today it appears that the bears are coming of hibernation in our market.”
“Timing is everything in this game and the renewed focus on global economic woes could not have come at a worse time for markets that are still reeling from the US debt ceiling crisis and poor news flow out of the Eurozone,” Le Brun says.
“In Australia we have commenced earnings season and it is feared that while investors focus on the top down approach to investment many solid earnings reports will not be fully rewarded in these market conditions.”
The market is also expecting good things from mining giant Rio Tinto, when it releases its half-year results in the afternoon.
Wall Street rose by 0.25% after seven straight days of losses.
Leighton Holdings shares have risen over 2% this morning after the company announced it will record a lower-than-expected loss for the financial year.
The company announced that it will record a loss of $408 million, down $19 million from the previous estimate.
“APL is showing good progress with the gross loss reduced from $730 million to $520 million as a result of no longer needing to provide for liquidated damages and time related costs, which would otherwise have applied for late completion,” chief executive David Stewart said in a statement.
“We expect that our claims, which we have not valued at June 30, will be recovered at a later date which will restore our net position to at least that previously forecast.”
Leighton also confirmed it expects to turn a profit in 2012, confirming a guidance of between $600-650 million.
Transurban has announced it nearly doubled full year profit to $112.4 million, with revenue also rising 26.8% to $1.03 billion.
Chief executive Chris Lynch said the company also has good potential for growth.
“Transurban is well-placed in the current mixed economy with a robust balance sheet, minimal immediate refinancing requirements and further growth initiatives set to come on line,” he said in a statement.
EBITDA was up 13.1% to $718.6 million.
Japan has intervened in currency markets again, amid fears the rising yen would hurt its post-earthquake recovery.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda has told reporters the Bank of Japan has taken appropriate action, without going into detail.
The intervention comes after the yen rose to about 79 to the US dollar, versus ideal levels for the export-reliant country of 77, Reuters reports.
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