Banks cushion resources tumble

A Surge in the banks has saved the sharemarket from suffering a major fall after investors opted to take profits in major mining and energy stocks.
After posting two consecutive trading days of record highs, the benchmark ASX 200 index fell 13.8 points to 4929.6 yesterday and the broader All Ordinaries dropped 12 points to close at 4880.2.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were among the biggest losers of the top 200 listed companies yesterday, falling 78c to $25.80 and $2.63 to $75.82 respectively, retracing many of the gains on Monday.
Shaw Stockbroking head of trading Jamie Spiteri said the heavyweight mining and energy stocks had suffered from profit-taking yesterday, but the strength of the banks prevented a major drop in the indices.
"If you didn't have that stability across the broader market ... you could have seen a significant fall," he said.
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum also dropped almost 3 per cent, or $1.29, to $45.22.
But gold producer Newcrest shone yesterday when its quarterly production report doused fears of cost blowouts and a poor hedging program.
The stock soared almost 6 per cent, or $1.43, to $26.20, while Newmont rose 24c to $8.19 and Lihir Gold 3c to $2.42.
Among the banks, ANZ rose 29c to $24.90, Commonwealth 18c to $44.65, National Australia 33c to $33.88, Westpac 22c to $23.27 and St George 25c to $30.30.
One of the biggest winners yesterday was tyre and garage door distributor Alesco, which defied a downturn in the housing market to post an 8 per cent rise in first-half net profit to $24.04 million. The stock rose more than 5.5 per cent, or 50c, to $9.33.
Multiplex also provided enough certainty about the completion of Wembley Stadium in London in time for the FA Cup final in May to give investors reason to push the stock up more than 3 per cent, or 11c, to $3.16.
Meanwhile, an attempt by takeover target Wattyl to put a further shine on its bullish profit forecasts paid off with the stock rising almost 3 per cent, or 10c, to $3.45.
In contrast, predator Allco Equity Partners fell 7c to $2.73, its lowest level since listing in late 2004.
Wallace Funds Management portfolio manager Michael Birch said Rio Tinto's full-year result tomorrow would set the theme for the other resource stocks during the reporting season.
The market was seeking more clarity from Rio Tinto about costs and capital management. "If Rio's cost base is higher than the market expects ... people will be much more nervous about BHP and the non-diversified players," he said.
But Mr Birch believed the sell-off of the miners yesterday was "just a one-day thing" and the underlying fundamentals had not changed.
Colonial First State's head of investment markets research, Hans Kunnen, said the reporting season had "to go well because the shares are priced for it to do well".
Consequently, companies that disappointed investors "will be hammered", he said.