Energy stocks and David Jones lead stocks higher THE Australian sharemarket is higher, led by stocks in the energy and consumer goods sector. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 41.7 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 5275.9 points. The broader All Ordinaries index was up 40.6 points, or 0.78 per cent, at 5270.1 points. But there appeared to be no major driver behind the gains, with CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy saying some stocks had posted almost inexplicable rises. One of those was department store David Jones, which rose 14c, or 4.9 per cent, to $2.99 despite a 6 per cent fall in its annual net profit to $95.2 million. Its underlying profit rose slightly to $101.6m, but Mr McCarthy said the result looked poor and the outlook was gloomy. "The only explanation I can put on it is that the market was expecting a lot worse in terms of their strategic initiatives and potential writedowns," he said. Other retailers also rose, with Myer up 2c to $2.67 and JB Hi-Fi up 14c to $20.92. Energy stocks rose despite several days of oil price falls, suggesting traders were speculating on a bounce in the oil price. Oil Search rose 29c to $8.79, Santos rose 23c to $15.33 and Woodside rose 25c to $38.85. BHP Billiton rose 13c to $36 and Rio Tinto rose 31c to $62.41. "For most of the day, all sectors were in positive territory, but there's no detectable investment theme here," Mr McCarthy said. The Australian market is marching to its own tune today. Markets in Japan and China fell today. Telstra was steady at $4.93 as it announced 1100 job cuts as part of a restructure of its operations business. Among the banks, Commonwealth fell 6c to $72.84, but Westpac rose 37c to $33.11, ANZ rose 42c to $31.41 and National Australia Bank rose 68c to $35.30. The December share price index futures contract was 31 points higher at 5273 points, with 21,484 contracts traded. National turnover was 1.38 billion securities worth $3.85 billion.