Australian shares are expected to slowly gain momentum next week as investors return to the market and holiday terrorist fears subside, dealers said.
At the same time, trade will take a while to get going again after the holidays, while overall sentiment remains confident in the outlook for both the economy and stocks.
Nomura equrity strategist Eric Betts said while the "silly season" is over, the market will not return to full swing until mid-January.
"I think people will trickle back rather than rush back," said Betts. "A lot of people are taking the first two weeks off in January so I think it will be a quiet start to the year." National Australia Bank analysts said in a report that investors are overwhelmingly positive on the market and that the trends seen in 2003 are expected to continue into 2004.
The market closed two hours early Wednesday and Friday and was closed Thursday. In the shortened week, the benchmark SP/ASX 200 finished 35.1 points better at 3,300.7 while the All Ordinaries gained 25.7 points to 3,296.7.
Australia's largest bank, the National Australia Bank, finished 15 cents higher at 29.92 Australian dollars (22.5 US dollars) while resources group Rio Tinto closed up 55 cents at 37.38 dollars.