The final trading day for the quarter looks like it is going to be a good one for investors with the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) climbing more than 1.4% today.
Positive offshore leads and a rally in resource and bank stocks have been the major contributors to today's gains although a number of other stocks have also received special attention from investors today including:
Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG)
Origin is the best performing major energy company today with its shares climbing more than 5.8% at one point. Today's gains come on the back of the company signing a landmark 15-year power purchase agreement with Fotowatio Renewable Ventures to provide enough solar energy to supply around 24,000 Australian households annually. No specific financial details were included in today's announcement but it appears the market is supportive of Origin's continued push into the renewable energy sector. Origin shares have bounced strongly off their recent lows but still remain nearly 56% below their 52-week high of $11.77.
Emerchants Ltd (ASX: EML)
Shares of Emerchants have continued on from their strong rally yesterday and have risen another 13.7% today. Investors are clearly happy with the new agreement it has signed with UK-based bookmaker Bet365, although the finer details of the agreement are yet to be released. In any case, the new agreement will open up a huge market for Emerchants with Bet365 having more than 21 million customers worldwide. The shares have now gained more than 91% over the past 12 months and it is definitely a stock worth keeping a close eye on.
Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia (ASX: GMA)
Shares of Genworth gained as much as 9.1% in early trade but at the time of writing had given back some of those gains to trade 4.2% higher. Today's rally comes as the mortgage insurance company announced it was undertaking a capital management initiative that would return $202 million to shareholders via a 34 cents per share distribution. Genworth simultaneously announced it was also seeking to undertake a related share consolidation which would effectively reduce the number of shares on issue by approximately 14.5%. The company has stated that the combination of these two initiatives will provide shareholders an earnings per share outcome similar to a share buy-back.
IPH Ltd (ASX: IPH)
IPH shares have gained more than 5.5% today despite no news being released by the company. Today's gains are likely the result of bargain hunters picking up the stock after being heavily sold-off since the release of its interim results back in February. IPH specialises in intellectual property (IP) law and has been aggressively expanding its footprint into various parts of the Asia Pacific region. The shares remain more than 31% below their 52-week high of $9.43 but have still managed to deliver shareholders a gain of 32% over the past 12 months.
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