US, metal prices undercut market, even Rinker down

The stockmarket was softer yesterday after a pullback from the resources sector and a soft lead from the US.
The ASX200 index closed down 15 points to 5384.4, while the All Ordinaries slipped 14.8 points to 5352.9.
ABN AMRO Morgans director of equities Bill Chatterton said the big resource stocks had reversed the market's record high yesterday.
"It was a combination of a number of factors but some of the resources and banks took a bit off the top," Mr Chatterton said.
Rio Tinto shed $1.37 to $78.40, while rival BHP Billiton lost 64c to $27.28.
Materials group Rinker held on to most of Monday's 26 per cent gain, thanks the $16.8 billion takeover bid by Mexican outfit Cemex. Rinker slipped 4c to $18.55.
The big banks were mixed, with the National Australia Bank down 5c to $38.18, the Commonwealth up 26c to $47.70, Westpac 3c weaker at $23.95 and ANZ up 29c to $29.04. St George was down 4c at $32.41.
Bank of Queensland fell 8c to $16.37 and Bendigo Bank, which was up 22c on Monday after saying it would improve profit 10 per cent, lost all but a penny of that, closing down 21c at $16.37.
Ambitious Bundaberg building society Wide Bay Australia was unchanged at $11.80 after it pulled out of the bidding for Mackay rival Pioneer, which has not been traded for a fortnight. Pioneer will thus fall to BoQ at $4.78 a share.
Blood plasma company CSL slipped $1.13 to $56.09 and flu drug inventor Biota was down 2.5c at $1.32.
Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd was 17c weaker at $19.38. Fairfax rose 1c to $4.86, News Corp gained 15c to $28.35 and its non-voters jumped 4c to $27.21.
A fall in the oil price overnight forced the energy sector lower, with Woodside down $1 to $37.55, Santos down 11c to $10.59 and Oil Search 5c weaker at $3.42.
A big mover - 41 million shares moved - was Garden State Resources, noting further gas shows in its drill hole Paradox Basin 1 in Utah. The shares were only two bob six weeks ago but finished up 33c at $1.20.
In the golds, Lihir was down 8c to $2.75 after posting a sharp dip in third quarter gold production. The company, however, said it was on track for a strong end to the year.
Newmont Mining was unchanged at $5.82 and Newcrest gained 35c to $23.85.
Bendigo Mining was down a penny to 98.5c and Sino Gold up 10c at $4.90.

Australian Agricultural Company was up 5.5c to $1.73 after saying it had a good season.
In the retail sector, Coles Myer slipped 2c to $13.58, Woolworths edged up 9c to $20.69 and department store David Jones fell 3c to $3.62. Harvey Norman was off 3c to $3.62 and The Reject Shop fell 1c to $8.38.
Miller's Retail, undergoing reconstruction, was up 3c at $1.90, while the reliable Noni B was down 3c at $4.30
In the news, Macquarie Media's partly-paid securities rose 2c to $2.92 after the company said it was keen to buy more radio stations.
And Babcock & Brown Wind Partners Group slipped 0.5c to $1.50 after saying it remained confident of meeting its distribution guidance for 2006-07 of 12.5c per stapled security while its chief executive Peter O'Connell resigned.
Child care centre operator ABC Learning Centres gained 5c to $7.05 after officially completing its acquisition of Hutchison's Child Care Services.
The most traded stock was Telstra with 87.94 million shares changing hands, valued at $348.7 million.
The stock finished 5c higher at $3.96.

Rinker rumours drive trading

Speculation of a takeover bid for Rinker helped counter fears of a slump in new homes that combined with a fall in commodity prices to send the market into retreat after Thursday's record closing high.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.6 per cent, or 31.2 points, to 5358, wiping out almost all Thursday's gains.
Reports that Mexican giant Cemex, the world's third-largest cement producer, was planning to buy Rinker sent the stock up 83¢, to $14.70.
Since April, Rinker has fallen from a 12-month high of $21.44 on worries of a slowdown in the US, where it generates 80 per cent of earnings. But the country's biggest building materials maker shot up 6 per cent — Rinker's biggest one-day gain in six months — from about $13.40 in the last 10 minutes of trading. Three times the daily average of shares were traded, with most of the trading just before the close.
The rumours also helped rival building products maker James Hardie lift 8¢ to $7.60.
But Boral, Australia's biggest seller of building materials, slumped 28¢ to $7.18 after it announced a 15 per cent profit downgrade to $307.7 million. The slowdown in the US property market has added to Boral's pain, as the US provides about 30 per cent of Boral's earnings.
Paint maker Wattyl also said the weakening housing market could adversely affect its performance this year, which sent its share price down 10¢ to $2.85.
The Housing Industry of Australia is forecasting housing starts in Victoria will be flat because of interest rate concerns. Nationally, housing starts are expected to be down for the third consecutive year.
But Wise-owl.com analyst Imran Valibhoy said the slowdown in the Australian property market was good news for equities as it would change the flow of investor money away from property and into the sharemarket.
The spot price for West Texas crude oil fell 1.7 per cent to $US60.36 a barrel, which wiped 92¢ off Woodside, Australia's second-biggest oil producer, to $37.78. Santos, the third-biggest producer, tumbled 16¢ to $10.62.
A fall in the price of nickel and copper combined with some minor profit downgrades to send BHP Billiton down 42¢ to $27.70. Analysts have readjusted their forecasts and given the mining giant a profit range of $US12.5 billion to $US14.8 billion.
Rio Tinto lost $2.01 to $77.34, ahead of an announcement after the market closed that it would increase its buyback by $US3 billion to $US7 billion.
A potential legal battle over the increased costs Straits Resources faces trying to produce copper concentrate for Sempra Metals sent the stock sliding 9 per cent. Straits finished down 39¢ at $3.84.
ANZ continued its upward momentum of recent days. The stock lifted 11¢ to $28.86 after the bank reported a 16 per cent jump in net profit to $3.7 billion on Thursday.
Telstra rose 7¢ to $3.85 — its highest closing price since early August.
After rising during early trading, the Australian dollar ended steady at US76.34¢.
The increasing possibility of an interest rate rise next month pushed the Aussie upwards sharply during the week from last week's US76.02¢ close.

Stockmarket hits a new high

The stockmarket closed at a record high yesterday as ANZ led a surge in banking stocks and the resources sector strengthened.
CMC Markets dealer Josh Whiting said it had been a strong day for the main forces in the market: the banks and miners.
"Metals markets overnight were just a little bit firmer," Mr Whiting said.
The ASX 200 index was up 37.4 points at 5389.7, surpassing the previous closing high of 5364.5 points set on May 11, 2006.
The All Ordinaries gained 35.9 points to 5360.6, beating the record close of 5324.7 points set on Wednesday.
The All Ordinaries also hit a new intra-day high of 5361.9 points, beating the previous record of 5352.1 set on May 10.
The ANZ lifted 33c to $28.75 as it said it had strong momentum going into fiscal 2007, after posting a record annual profit of $3.7 billion.
Among the other big banks, the Commonwealth strengthened 75c to $48.07, the NAB jumped 42c to $38.48, and Westpac rose 36c to $23.98.
Suncorp stopped losing value, closing up 17c at $20.80.
Global miner BHP Billiton, which holds its annual general meeting in London tonight, was 19c higher at $28.12. Rio Tinto was up 79c to $79.35.
Zinc and lead producer Zinifex rose 38c to $14.48 as it said tight supply and continuing strong demand suggested a very positive outlook for zinc prices.
Oil and gas producer Santos was up 27c at $10.78 as it said it was on track to deliver on its production target for the full year.
Woodside Petroleum was up 49c to $38.70.
In the golds, Newcrest nudged up 1c to $22.81 after saying it was considering local acquisitions while preparing itself for any possible takeover approaches.
Lihir was off 1c at $2.77 and Newmont up 11c at $5.86.
In the media sector, Publishing & BroadcastingLtd was 43c richer at $19.95 as PBL boss James Packer said the company had "minimal interest" in rival media player John Fairfax but continued to seek acquisitions.
Fairfax was 1c firmer at $4.95.
Trans-Tasman media group APN News & Media jumped 56c to $6.05 as it said it had been approached by Independent News & Media and a group of private equity firms but had not received a bid for the company.

Miners, banks - is there nothing else in this market?

Australian stocks ended the day on a high note, thanks to the resources and financial sectors.
The ASX200 index rose 35.2 points to 5352.3, while the All Ordinaries set a new closing record, up 36.3 to 5324.7.
"It has been a pretty solid session," said CMC Markets chief analyst David Land. "Most of the weight on the overall index was provided by the big diversified resources."
The world's biggest miner, BHP Billiton gained 41c to $27.93, while rival Rio Tinto put on $1.81 to end at $78.56.
Woodside Petroleum was up 60c at $38.21, Oil Search rose 2c to $3.46 and Santos jumped 24c to $10.51. It has 16.66 per cent of a gas find announced yesterday by 83.33 per cent owner and operator Mosaic, which was up a whole 0.5c to 16.5c gas announced at oil find
"There was quite a bit of life in the finance sector as well … with some of the banks doing quite well, as well as finance companies," Mr Land added.
ANZ improved 27c to $28.42, the Commonwealth climbed 14c to $47.32, NAB rose 11c to $38.06 and Westpac ended 10c higher at $23.62.
One of the biggest movers of the day was Australia's largest listed travel agent, Flight Centre, ending $3.20 higher at $16.85, after it unveiled a move to privatise its operations, citing a lack of long-term vision from the sharemarket.
In the US on Tuesday night technology stocks fell as a disappointing outlook from the No.1 maker of chips for mobile phones, Texas Instruments Inc, sparked concerns for corporate profits, but the Dow Jones industrial average was higher.
Also, an announcement on the US central bank's deliberations on interest rates is expected in the early hours of this morning.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 10.97 at 12,127.88, another record. The Nasdaq Composite fell 10.72 to 2,344.84.
Telstra put on a zack to $3.72 and was the most traded stock of the day with 77.92 million shares worth $289 million traded.
Media was mixed, Fairfax losing 2c to $4.94, News Corp slipping 14c to $28.68, its non-voters 17c to $27.56, but PBL managed a gain of 15c to $19.52.
Qantas advanced 5c to $4.27, while brewer Foster's was also up the same amount at $6.34.
Retailer Coles Myer stepped back 19c to $13.26 as larger rival Woolworths rose 15c to $20.55 and David Jones added 7c to $3.67.
Miller's Retail fell 3c to $1.72 but Harvey Norman was up 4c to $3.72 and the ever reliable Noni B was up 13c at $4.24.
The price of gold in Sydney closed $US5.32 higher at $US583.95 per fine ounce.
Gold miners also showed gains, Newcrest rose 45c to $22.80 and Lihir Gold firmed 5c to $2.78. Bendigo was down 0.5c at 98.5c.
Stockfeed and salt company Ridley Corp hit a 52-week low of $1.10 but finished steady at $1.115.
Integrated kaolin clay producer Minerals Corp was up 0.5 to 1.9c on 39 million traded.
Preliminary market turnover was 1.49 billion shares, worth a combined $5.13 billion, with 591 companies ending higher, 533 lower and 338 unchanged.

Buyer drought erodes shares

The drought, profit-taking and concerns about consumer price index data out today helped drive the Australian Stock Exchange lower despite record highs on Wall Street overnight.
At the close, the ASX 200 index was 16.4 points lower at 5317.1, while the All Ordinaries receded 15.3 points to 5288.4.
At 1615 AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 31 points weaker at 5313, below the physical, on a volume of 13,470 contracts.
BHP Billiton lost 36c to $27.52 after news filtered through that it posted steep production declines in several metals and minerals.
Rio Tinto finished in the red after an early surge, closing down 30c at $76.75.
Copper and gold explorer Oxiana slipped 6c to $3.21 as it released news that gold production at its flagship Sepon project rose 30 per cent in the third quarter although there is no change to its forecast production for 2006.
ABN Amro Morgans client adviser Margaret Morrissey said the Reserve Bank would be waiting for the CPI figures today before deciding whether an interest rate rise was warranted next month.
"There has been a fair bit of profit-taking in the market," Ms Morrissey said. "People are a bit nervous about all this talk of an interest rate hike."
She said the drought was also affecting agricultural stocks such as Futuris, which dropped 13.5c to $1.74 despite telling its annual general meeting yesterday that its livestock and real estate operations had had a positive start to the year. ABB, the old Barley Board, fell 9c to $6.11. It was more than $7.70 six months ago.
In the US on Monday night, stocks rallied on optimism about the spending outlook of the world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, and a belief that falling oil prices will boost consumer spending.
The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 114.54 points to 12,116.91, a record high.
Banks were mixed, NAB leading the way with a 29c lift to $37.95 and the Commonwealth rising 9c to $47.18.
But ANZ, which reports its annual results on Thursday, gave up 6c to $28.15, as did Westpac, which closed at $23.52.
Coles Myer firmed 5c to $13.45 and supermarket rival Woolworths fell 15c to $20.40.
Underwear and sport clothes maker Pacific Brands improved 7c to $2.59 after telling its annual general meeting that sales and profit growth for the first four months of the year were ahead of last year.

Just slightly on the other side from up

The stockmarket closed just over the line in negative territory with a weak lead from the US and mixed commodity prices weighing on the market.
At the close, the ASX 200 index had lost 1.9 points to 5333.5, while the All Ordinaries shed 0.7 to 5303.7.
At 1618 AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was down one point to 5338, on a volume of 7101 contracts.
Macquarie Equities client adviser David Halliday said the banks were the leaders in a lacklustre day.
"The banks have been strongly led by CBA, it's a seasonally strong period for them," Mr Halliday said.
"It's not a bad performance by the market considering the Dow was a little bit down on Friday and commodity prices were mixed.
"I think the market has taken some confidence from the fact the Dow has broken through that 12,000 point mark and done it with some conviction."
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 9.36 points at 12,002.37.
Locally, the Commonwealth Bank surged 64c higher to $47.09 after saying it was on track to meet or better peer growth in cash earnings per share and earnings momentum had been maintained.
The NAB gained 6c to $37.66, Westpac was up 5c at $23.58, and ANZ fell 2c to $28.21.
Other financial stocks were mixed with Macquarie Bank rising $1.01 to $74.20 and St George shedding 24c to $31.98.
The big miners were mixed with BHP Billiton edging 13c higher to $27.88 and rival Rio Tinto shedding 22c to $77.05.
"There has been a renewed interest in the commodity stocks, BHP and Rio have had strong runs and garnered a lot of investment support over the last week," Mr Halliday said.
Mr Halliday said the media stocks gave back some profit after a stellar run last week.
"It looks like there has been a reasonable amount of profit taking there … they have all had good runs and they were absolutely the centre of investor attention last week," Mr Halliday said.
Among the media stocks Fairfax lost 5c to $5.00, PBL fell 50c to $19.70 and News Corp was down 7c to $28.79 while its non-voters slipped 17c to $27.58.
Retailing was also in negative territory with Coles Myer down 15c at $13.40, David Jones down 3c at $3.68 and Harvey Norman down 7c at $3.65.
Woolworths slipped 17c to $20.55 despite posting a 21 per cent increase in sales to $10.7 billion for the first quarter.
Energy stocks followed the trend of the oil price with Woodside losing 83c to $37.67, Santos 11c to $10.48 and Oil Search falling 10c to $3.47.
The spot gold price was lower and at 1644 AEST was trading at $US591.80 an ounce, down $US10 from Friday's local close.
The goldminers were also in the red with Newcrest falling 12c to $22.28, Newmont giving up 11c to $5.65 and Lihir losing 5c to $2.79.
The most traded was Perth nickel hopeful Australian Mines with 105 million shares changing hands worth $10 million. The shares hit a new high of 11c and closed up 1.9c at 10.5c.
Budding producer Tanimi Gold fell 5c to 16c after saying it was behind in installing the gold production circuits.

Shares drop off as media ardour cools

The sharemarket closed lower yesterday, dragged back by retailer Coles Myer's rejection of takeover overtures and marked by a cooling of the blood among media investors.
At the close, the ASX 200 index was down 27.9 points to 5285.3, while the All Ordinaries was off 25.2 at 5256.9.
The December share price index contract reversed 20 points to 5301, though still at a premium to the physical, on volume of 16,261.
Australia's second biggest retailer, Coles Myer, lost $1.30, or 8.97 per cent, to $13.20 after rejecting a revised takeover bid of $15.25 per share by a consortium led by Kohlberg Kravis Robert.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was off 27c at $27.18. Rio Tinto gained 83c to $75.05 after saying it would invest up to $2 billion to develop the world's largest undeveloped copper-gold resource in Mongolia.
Oil and gas producer Woodside retreated $1.05 to $39.05 as its record-breaking quarterly production was overshadowed by continuing problems at the Chinguetti oilfield off Mauritania and a cost blowout at the North-West Shelf expansion.
Santos was steady at $10.42 as it indicated its share of the cost of the massive mudflow disaster in Indonesia could climb to $43.7 million.
Among the big banks, the NAB lost 18c to $37.42, the Commonwealth was 41c weaker at $45.99, but the ANZ lifted 12c to $28.10 and Westpac rose 28c to $23.34.
In the media sector, PBL was off 64c at $19.95 but Fairfax nudged up 1c to $4.74.
News Corp fell 11c to $28.92 and its non-voting stock backtracked 3c to $27.82.
Supermarket operator Woolworths was 11c poorer at $20.57.
Telstra dipped 3c to $3.59 and Optus-owner Singapore Telecom rose 4c to $2.11.
Among gold stocks, Newmont dropped 15c to $5.62, Newcrest fell 25c to $22.25, and Lihir slid 7c to $2.78.
At the close in Sydney, the price of gold was $US589.90 per fine ounce, down $US1.70 from Wednesday's close.
Qantas Airways rose 21c to $4.13 as it upgraded its full year earnings guidance but said it would shed 340 jobs.
Paper maker PaperlinX jumped 16c to $4.01 following news that a major European competitor is looking at shutting down three paper mills.
The top traded stock by volume was Perth explorer Acclaim Exploration, with 65.9 million shares worth $3.02 million changing hands.
Acclaim was down 2.3c at 4.3c despite "encouraging" drill results from a South African gold-uranium deposit.
Small Melbourne medical technology and preventative healthcare company IM Medical was again heavily traded, 61.5 million shares pushing the price up another 0.3c to 1.9c. Ex-chairman Allan Blood has been buying - 10 million yesterday.

Sharemarket nears high thanks to media stocks

The stockmarket closed the day in positive territory, approaching its all-time high, with the media sector and the big banks driving the market upwards.

At the close the ASX200 index was up 31.9 points to 5313.2 while the All Ordinaries was 30.4 higher at 5282.1.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was up 35 to 5321, on volume of 17,105.

CMC Markets analyst David Land said there was no consistent direction out of the top companies but the larger media stocks were contributing to the positive sentiment.

"PBL is having a strong one today, Fairfax is also up strongly, the larger media companies are certainly contributing to the upside we've seen," Mr Land said.

Among the media stocks, John Fairfax rose 19c to $4.73, News Corp was up 15c to $29.03 and its non-voting stock edged up 32c to $27.85. APN too was up 19c at $5.50 and Rural Press rose two bob to $12.10.

West Australian News rose another 18c to $10.65 on heavy buying - 34 million shares went through.

The James Packer-led PBL resumed trading and closed up 74c at $20.59, having hit $21.79 early after it announced the sale of half its media interests to CVC Asia Pacific.

Other media stocks were higher with Austereo putting on 6c to $2.12 and Southern Cross Broadcasting gaining 64c to $14.75.

The market got off to a positive start despite a weak lead from the US overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average slipping 30.58 to 11,950.02.

Mr Land said the fall in the big miners had limited the market's upside.

"Most of the big diversified miners are lower and that's put a cap on how much upside we've got," Mr Land said.

Rio Tinto, which released its third quarter production results, shed $1.30 to $74.22 while BHP Billiton was 8c higher at $27.45.

Rio Tinto posted record third quarter iron ore production but copper has slipped, in part due to industrial action at the Escondida mine in Chile.

The big banks were higher with ANZ picking up 34c to $27.98, National Australia Bank rising 12c to $37.60, the Commonwealth gaining 7c to $46.40 and Westpac rising 18c to $23.06.

Other banking stocks were stronger with Macquarie Bank rising 45c to $71.50 and St George Bank up 24c to $32.24.

The Bank of Queensland was up 11c at $16.56, its highest ever.

Fund manager Perpetual, which lost $2.59 on Tuesday after forecasting slower growth, picked up 98c to close at $73.60.

The retail sector was mixed with Coles Myer gaining 36c to $14.50, David Jones losing 2c to $3.72 and Harvey Norman shedding 3c to $3.71. Woolworths was steady at $20.68.

Energy stocks were stronger despite a slight easing in the oil price overnight with Woodside gaining 25c to $40.10, Santos 2c to $10.42 and Oil Search 8c to $3.44. Beach was unchanged at $1.455.

The spot gold price was $US5.50 lower at $US590.90 an ounce, and so were the goldminers. Newcrest shed 3c to $22.50, Newmont lost 3c to $5.77 and Lihir fell 13c to $2.85.

New Holland Mining was the most traded stock with 104.5 million shares changing hands worth $407,000. The Collins Street gold explorer, with a bit of internet, hit a new low of 0.4c, down 0.03c. It has not been over 3c since June 2000.

West Perth's Jackson Gold almost doubled to 22c with the trade of 23.5 million shares on news of good copper and gold indications (rock chip samples of 4 per cent copper) at its Boolaloo prospect in the western Pilbara.

IM Medical, a heart analysis company, was up .002c to 1.6c.

ignores Wall St, takes a dive

Local shares ended lower despite a record high on Wall Street the night before, as banking and financial stocks weakened.
The ASX200 index closed 29.7 points lower at 5281.3 while the All Ordinaries fell 24.7 to 5251.7.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract slumped 49 to 5282, on a volume of 14,367.
"Generally speaking, the majority of the weakness is in the banking sector and the financials," ABN Amro Morgans dealer Trent Muller said, suggesting interest rate nerves or profit-taking as possible causes.
Among the banks, the Commonwealth slumped 67c to $46.33, NAB dropped 37c to $37.48, Westpac shed 23c to $22.88 and ANZ slid 16c to $27.64.
But Macquarie Bank gained 55c to $71.05, after announcing it was part of a consortium that has acquired the UK's largest water company, Thames Water, for $8 billion ($19.8 billion).
Mr Muller said that while resource stocks had pulled back yesterday, they may provide some positive trading today.
"They haven't been that strong given that most base metal prices were up last night but if base metals are flat to slightly positive tonight, we could see a bit of a boost out of resources tomorrow," he said.
BHP Billiton was up just 2c at $27.37, while rival Rio Tinto gained 23c to $75.52.
US stocks rose on Monday, pushing the Dow to an all-time high just three points shy of 12,000, amid positive assessments of the economy and an advance in energy shares, boosted by a jump in oil prices.
Mr Muller said Telstra was continuing to weaken, ending 7c lower at $3.57.
Media mogul of the moment James Packer's PBL has gone into a trading halt pending an announcement. The shares last traded at $19.85.
"Most people assume it's linked to the potential asset sales of their news and media investments," Mr Muller said. "That's due to come back on the market potentially as late as Thursday."
Other media were mixed, Fairfax firming 6c to $4.54, News Corp rising 22c to $28.88 but its non-voters fell 7c to $27.53.
Spot gold in Sydney finished $US4.90 higher at $US596.40 per fine ounce.
Lihir Gold ended down 13c at $2.98, after the Papua New Guinea miner snapped up smaller Victorian rival Ballarat Goldfields for $350 million, saying it wanted a foothold in Australia. Ballarat ended the day 4.5c higher at 27c.
Fellow Victorian goldminer Bendigo was up a zack to $1.045 on trade of 9.7 million shares.
Retailers had a generally negative day, Woolworths dropping 16c to $20.68, while rival Coles Myer shed 3c to $14.14. David Jones was up 1c at $3.74.
Interest of 15.5 million shares traded kicked plastics company Nylex up 0.7c to 6.5c.
The most traded stock of the day was IC2 Global, which ended the day steady at 0.1c, with 73.75 million shares worth $73,965 changing hands.
The company had been suspended for failure to lodge its annual accounts. IC2 Global develops telecom products and services for heavy users.
Preliminary market turnover for the day was 1.61 billion shares worth a combined $4.86 billion with 546 stocks moving up, 560 moving down and 344 unchanged.

BHP and Rio set a cracking pace

Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto led the sharemarket higher yesterday as it closed in on new highs.
The two miners accounted for almost half the day's rise as commodities continue to consolidate, lifting sentiment in the sector.
At the close the ASX200 had improved 21 points to 5331 and the All Ordinaries 22.5 to 5276.4.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract rose 28 to 5331.
Macquarie Equities client adviser David Halliday said the resources sector had been the barometer of sentiment in the market for the past 12 months.
"They are such a big part of the market that when they have a big day they can influence sentiment more broadly," he said.
"Commodities have consolidated and started to move higher, which has given the market confidence that we're not about to see a huge rout in commodity prices, which people were scared of five or six weeks ago."
He said many analysts had forecasts for commodity prices for 2007 well below where the spot prices were today.
"If that persists for the rest of the year then the only outcome is for earnings upgrades," Mr Halliday said.
The financial services sector was mostly weaker with only the CBA among the four majors to finish in positive territory, lifting 10c to $47.
NAB was 10c weaker at $37.85, Westpac 10c at $23.11 and ANZ 1c at $27.80.
Of the insurers, QBE lost 39c to $24.20, AMP was off 1c at $9.38 and AXA fell 10c to $6.51.
PBL surged 42c to $19.85 as speculation continued that it would look to sell off the Nine Network, ACP Magazines and ninemsn to a private equity group.
Printing group PMP, which eased 1.5c to $1.855, said its discussions with a private equity group over a possible takeover were in the early stages.
John Fairfax climbed 6c to $4.48 while News Corp backtracked 4c to $28.66 and its non voters 5c to $27.60.
Retailer David Jones rose 10c to $3.73, supermarket group Woolworths was 9c richer at $20.84 while Coles Myer retreated 9c to $14.17.
Telstra, now trading free of any rights to T3, crept up 1c to $3.64 while Optus owner Singapore Telecommunications eased 2c to $2.07. Unwired was stalled at 31.5c.
After the market closed, the board of Australian Pharmaceutical announced it was rejecting the takeover offer from Sigma. API rose 1c at $2.72 and Sigma was steady at $2.71.
Builder Multiplex firmed 1c to $3.49 on British weekend reports it was closer to a settlement in its dispute with the owner of London's Wembley Stadium.
Among gold stocks, Newmont climbed 26c to $5.81, Newcrest improved 13c to $22.65 and Lihir found 8c at $3.11.
Arrow Energy rose 4.5c to 93.5c after reporting it had added 13 per cent to its reserves base in the Basin Bowen.
Minara rose 33c to $5.29.
The company released its September quarter report, featuring a record 9202 tonnes of nickel produced.
The top traded stock by volume was explorer and nickel miner Australian Mines , up 1c to 6.9c on trade of 75.9 million shares.

Profit-takers force sharemarket lower

The stockmarket finished lower yesterday with profit-taking and energy stocks dragging it down.
At the close, the ASX200 index was down 23.4 points at 5259.4 points, while the All Ordinaries fell 21.4 to 5223.9.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 17 points lower at 5261, on a volume of 11,340 contracts.
Ausbil Dexia chief executive Paul Xiradis said the energy stocks were hit by a lower oil price.
"Conversely you are seeing the diversified resources such as Rio and BHP outperform the market today, which has been a trend for the past week," Mr Xiradis said.
The US provided a weak lead with Dow Jones losing 15 points to 11852, the S&P 500 slipping 3.47 to 1349.95 and Nasdaq falling 7 to 2308.
The local oilies were led down by Woodside, which lost 77c to $39.12 and Santos, down 20c to $10.45.
Oil Search bucked the trend and rose 1c to $3.30.
Mr Xiradis said Suncorp-Metway's proposed $7.87 billion takeover of general insurer Promina also drew the attention of investors.
"We've seen Promina trade quite strongly up on the announcement although it's pulled back now," Mr Xiradis said.
"We've also seen Suncorp trading quite strongly on the view that perhaps another predator might actually bid for Suncorp."
Shares in Suncorp closed down 10c at $22.20 after soaring $1.22 to a record $23.52. Promina rose 82c to $7.30.
The big miners were marginally lower with BHP Billiton shedding 2c to $26.08 and rival Rio Tinto falling two bob to $71.20.
The banks were mixed with ANZ rising 3c to $27.81, the CBA dropping 17c to $46.96, NAB shedding 8c to $37.62 and Westpac giving up 11c to close at $22.94.
Bank of Queensland rallied 36c higher to $16.35 after posting a 21 per cent increase in underlying profit to $82 million for 2005-06.
Macquarie Bank climbed 42c to $70.40 and St George Bank gained 6c to $31.65. Bendigo Bank dived 19c to $14.94 and ambitious Bundaberg building society Wide Bay Australia was down 5c at $11.10.
Retailer Woolworths picked up 11c to $20.71, Coles Myer was 8c lower at $14.20, Harvey Norman was flat at $3.63 and David Jones slid 3c to $3.64.
Media stocks were down after proposed new laws passed through the Senate, with PBL losing 20c to $19.25, News Corp shedding 34c to $28.21 and the non-voters slipping 23c to $27.14. Fairfax fell 5c to $4.42.
Printing and media services business PMP gained 16c to $1.885 after revealing it had been approached by a buy-out group.
The spot gold price was slightly higher and at $US574.40 an ounce, up $US1.90 from Wednesday's close.
The goldminers were mixed with Newcrest shedding 10c to $22.32 and Lihir gaining 5c to $2.98. Newmont was flat at $5.56. Poor old Bendigo Mining seems to have steadied at 94c.
Junior explorer Range Resources was the most traded with 79.9 million shares changing hands worth $2.7 million.
Range rose 0.2c to 3.1c after announcing a $US50 million ($67.5 million) deal for Canadian Canmex to explore Range's blocks in Puntland, Africa.

Market rallies as US hits new high

The sharemarket followed Wall Street's positive lead to end sharply higher.
The benchmark ASX 200 index rose 76.6 points to 5219.3, while the All Ordinaries gained 73.3 points to 5174.8.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract closed day trading 79 points higher at 5231 on a volume of 20,008 contracts.
Bell Potter analyst Stuart Smith said the higher close was the result of strong gains in the US on Wednesday night, and came despite a selldown in commodities in the past few days.
"I'm supremely confident about our market; I do think we're going to see more highs," Mr Smith said.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 123.27 points, or 1.05 per cent, to 11,850.61, a second straight record close.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 16.11 points, or 1.21 per cent, to 1350.22, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 47.30 points, or 2.11 per cent, to 2290.95.
Telstra is expected to determine the direction of the market for the next two trading days.
"The horizon really depends on tomorrow's strategic review by Telstra and moreover the info provided to the market on Monday," Mr Smith said
Mr Smith said he believed that because the share tranche sale must go ahead, the market would be supplied with positive news for at least the next two working days.
Telstra ended 1c lower at $3.73.
The telco is due to give a one-year update on its five-year restructure today, and then on Monday launch the T3 prospectus, with the offer opening on October 23.
Resource and energy stocks rallied. BHP Billiton rose 39c to $25.15, while Rio Tinto was up $1.32 to $69.33.
Woodside rose $1.25 to $38.70 and rival Santos rose 15c to $10.70 after launching a $1.26 per share cash bid for Queensland Gas, valuing the coal seam gas company at $606 million.
The price of spot gold in Sydney again closed lower, losing $US14.70 to $US564.60 per fine ounce.
But miners were still positive, with Lihir up 2c at $2.78 and Newcrest 14c higher at $21.40.
Banks continued their positive run, with Westpac rising 31c to $23.16, NAB 60c to $37.69, CBA 85c to $46.80 and ANZ 52c to $27.55.
Among the media stocks, John Fairfax rose 18c to $4.38, PBL was 39c higher at $19.59, News Corp rose 8c to $27.40 and its non-voting stock was up 11c to $26.18.
Coles Myer rallied 2c to $14.24, while rival Woolworths jumped 27c to $20.90 and David Jones rose 10c to $3.65.
Junior nickel miner Australian Mines was the most traded stock of the day, with 93.5 million shares worth $4.1 million changing hands, after it acquired a nickel project from BHP Billiton. Its shares rose 0.7c to 4.5c.
PacMag Metals soared 28.5c to 47c before closing at 41.5c.
The company announced its Ann Mason deposit in Nevada contained 64 per cent more copper than previously estimated.

It's after a good lunch that the bargains appear

The stockmarket inched forward yesterday, with a late recovery led by the big financial and media stocks.
The benchmark ASX200 index closed up 5.5 points at 5184.3 after diving 26 points in the morning. The All Ordinaries was 2.5 points stronger at 5141.2.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract ended day trading 7 points lower at 5193 on a volume of 16,697 contracts.
The local bourse overcame a weak start to end the day on a high, said Bell Potter senior adviser Stuart Smith.
"We went to water this morning but then the market decided it had had enough on the downside," Mr Smith said.
"Bearing in mind that the market has been down for 20 weeks, sometimes we can't help ourselves when we see bargains and I think it is definitely bargain-hunting time.
"I'm confident that the market is about to make a technical break on the upside."
Insurer Suncorp-Metway was the leader of the financial pack, gaining 41c, or 1.87 per cent, to $22.35, its highest ever.
Also stronger were Macquarie Bank, rising 12c to $69.54, Publishing and Broadcasting , 29c to $19, and Fairfax 9c to $4.21.
Two Australian online gaming companies were savaged by the market after the US passed laws that will effectively ban some forms of internet betting.
Both earn much of their revenues in the US market.
Betcorp shortened $1.065, or 56.7 per cent, to 81.5c, and online casino operator Lasseters lost 3.7c, or 51.4 per cent, to 3.5c.
Recently listed CentreBet slid 5c to $1.63 although its customers will be untouched by the new laws. The shares, issued at $1.80, opened at $1.55.
The major banks were also firmer, with the CBA up 21c to $46.11, ANZ 18c to $27.13, St George 16c to $30.50 and NAB 15c to $36.95.
Westpac also rose, increasing 7c to $22.88.
The major resources stocks were mixed. BHP Billiton gained 10c to $25.95 but Rio Tinto slipped 30c to $70 and oil and gas company Woodside $1.15 to $38.55. Santos fell 19c to $10.97 and Oil Search 7c to $3.36.
Retail stocks too were mixed, with Woolworths up 21c to $20.58, Coles Myer gaining 5c to $14.45, David Jones slipping 2c to $3.55 and Harvey Norman 8c weaker at $3.51. Miller's Retail gained 3.5c to $1.625 and the ever reliable Noni B finished unchanged at $4.16.
Telstra gained 4c to $3.74 and rival Optus owner Singtel slipped 2c to $2.04.
Warehouse rose a further 16c to a record $5.80 to continue its run since Woolworths bought into the company.
In the gold sector, Lihir fell 3c to $2.88, Newmont was unchanged at $5.80 and Newcrest slipped 13c to $22.15. Bendigo was up 2c at $1.395 and Chinese tenement holder Sino Gold was down 10c at $4.14.
Gold closed in Sydney trading at $US596.70 per fine ounce, down $US5.18 on Monday's close.
The most actively traded stock by volume was West Australian gold explorer Anglo Australian, with 29.17 million shares worth $2.18 million changing hands. Anglo shares edged up 0.6c to 7.7c. It's been on a run since last Tuesday, when it told the ASX there was nothing specific it could blame for the sudden interest, which has been sustained since then.
Building material stocks held up fairly well despite the worse-than-expected home approval figures. CSR was down 4c at $3.01 and Boral lost just a penny to close at $7.14.
Gold Coast developer Sunland jumped 13c to a year's high of $2.59, possibly on speculation approval of its $125 million Dubai development is on the way.