Market rebounds as banks, miners climb
The Australian sharemarket has made a strong start to Wednesday’s session, shrugging off a sluggish lead from Wall St. Banks, mining and energy stocks are improving, while a recovery in the consumer discretionary sector is also helping the market. The ASX 200 is up 23 points or 0.4% to 6,151.
 In earnings news, Bellamy’s Australia (BAL) shares are down 2.5% to $7.87 after the company reported a 63% fall in first-half net profit to $8.4 million and warned of a worse than expected result for the full year. Revenue fell 26% to$130 million. BAL now expects FY19 revenue to come in between $275-300 million reflecting zero Chinese-label sales during the half.
Bega Cheese (BGA) shares are also being sold off, after the company reported a 74% slip in first-half profit to $5.3 million. BGA says the result was impacted by droughtinflated farm gate milk prices and expansion costs. Bega Cheese shares are down 0.4% to $4.80.
 Online job search company Seek (SEK) has posted a 5% decline in first-half profit to $99.3 million hurt by weaker results in its Latin American division. However, total revenue rose 21% to $757.2 million, driven by strength in Australia, NZ and China. SEK shares are up 7.2% to$18.58.
OzMinerals (OZL) has reported a 3.8% dip in FY18 net profit to $222.4 million. The result was impacted by higher depreciation and one-off charges. OZL shares are down 0.8% to $10.63.
Michael Hill International (MHJ) shares are up 8.1% to $0.60, after the company more than doubled first-half profit to $19.5 million. Total revenue from ordinary activities slipped 2.7% to $315.4 million, after jewellery chain shifted its strategy away from discounting.
1.06bn shares have been traded, worth $2.55bn. 514 stocks are higher, 457 are weaker, while 351 are unchanged.
 In economic news, Construction Work Done fell -3.1% in 4Q vs 3Q (consensus +0.5%).
Looking ahead, Chinese data on industrial profits is due for release. Publishde by CommSec