Ho hum: a modest day, another record

The final trading day of the year produced modest gains but enough to set another record high, the third for the week.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 9.4 points to close at 5669.9. The benchmark has climbed 19 per cent this year, marking a fourth straight year of advances.
"The index has benefited from the strong commodities sector as mining companies did well on strong demand from India and China," said Andrew Cain, of Dimensional Fund Advisers in Sydney. "The economy has been stronger than was predicted and that has benefited the consumer sector."
The biggest gainer among the S&P/ASX 200 Index's 10 industry groups this year was the information technology sector. It was followed by the consumer staples group, including supermarket owners and alcoholic beverage producers.
Resource companies led the charge for the benchmark index's best individual performers. Zinc producer and explorer Perilya was the most spectacular mover, with a gain of 454 per cent, and Paladin rode the uranium resurgence to improve 351 per cent.
Bendigo Mining contributed to a sense of the sector's volatility by being the worst-performed stock in the top 200, dropping 52 per cent. Only wheat exporter AWB could come close to Bendigo's decline, losing half its value in 2006.
The index also benefited from the interest shown by private equity groups. Offers by buy-out firms rose to a record $33.4 billion in Australia this year from $1.9 billion during 2005.
The spotlight yesterday was on uranium stocks after Prime Minister John Howard declared nuclear power to be part of the solution to Australia's energy needs. "The uranium stocks have been front and centre today," said ABN Amro Morgans adviser Lisa Jarvis.
"The uranium stocks really helped, through the likes of ERA and Paladin … I would have thought there would have been more profit-taking but everyone is very bullish about the market at the moment."
Paladin finished steady at $8.90 after hitting an intraday high of $9.19. ERA gained 62¢ to $20.80 and Summit Resources put on 27¢ to $3.03.
BHP Billiton firmed 2¢ to $25.30 as Rio Tinto dipped 4¢ to $74.30. The London Metal Exchange Index, based on the closing price of six metals including copper and aluminium, rose 1.1 per cent overnight.
Crude oil edged higher in New York, advancing for the first time in five days. Woodside Petroleum rose 30¢ to $38.11.
Among the goldminers, Newcrest climbed 54¢ to $26.35 on takeover speculation and Sino Gold stood out with a jump of 44¢, or 6.4 per cent, to $7.30. Spot gold in Sydney rose $US5.60 an ounce to $US633.80, its highest in three weeks.
The banks were mixed, with Westpac rising 7¢ to $24.24, NAB losing 6¢ to $40.40 and ANZ sliding 10¢ to $28.21. Commonwealth was steady at $49.48.
The retailers were stronger. Woolworths gained 7¢ to $23.90, Coles was up 1¢ at $14 and David Jones picked up 9¢ to $4.17.
Wall Street provided a relatively flat lead, with the Dow Jones closing 9.05 points lower at 12,501.52 after a battery of reports indicated the US economy was stronger than expected, raising concerns that the Federal Reserve might be more aggressive about interest rates next year.