Babcock & Brown Limited

Yesterday Australian shares soared the most in almost half a year after the US Government's bailout of mortgage giants to calm investor worries about global market turbulence.

Yesterday the Australian share market was dragged down by a 6% fall in Rio Tinto and broad-based weakness across the resources sector on falling commodity prices and a weak US lead. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 56 points, or 1.1%, to 5060, while the broader All Ordinaries had lost 64.5 points, or 1.2%, to 5130.5.

The share market closed firmly in the black yesterday, driven by gains in resources and finance stocks following a positive lead from Wall Street. And US stocks gained for a third day overnight led by manufacturers and financial companies.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed lower after falls from the financial sector, with Babcock & Brown (ASX:BNB) suffering a heavy loss amid a drop in interim profit. Analysts said that some of the reports out yesterday were slightly negative, despite some coming out with higher profit the forward earnings would be under pressure.

Yesterday the Australian share market closed moderately stronger driven by an improvement in financial stocks. But actually Australia's big four banks have lost almost A$80 billion in share market value since reaching highs late last year. The financial stocks have been hit by specific issues which include fears of bad debts or how much the credit crunch will squeeze banks margins.