Finance, energy stocks end market's losing streak

The Australian sharemarket closed in positive territory after seven days of losses, the banking and energy sectors driving the bourse higher.
The benchmark ASX 200 Index was up 70.1 points at 6247, while the All Ordinaries gained 64.6 points to 6309.4.
The CMC Markets senior dealer Matt Lewis said gains from the finance and energy sectors pushed the market into positive territory.
"We saw some degree of buying today in key blue-chip stocks that may have been a little oversold in the last week of losses; however, the overall mood of investors remains cautious," Mr Lewis said. "Macquarie Bank led the finance sector higher and helped push the overall market after it gained around 2 per cent.
"We have also seen some heavy trading in local oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum, helping drive the stock over $1 higher" as traders speculated on movements in the oil price.
On Thursday night in the US the Dow Jones put on 38.37 points to close at 13,245.64.
In Australia, the energy sector was mixed. Woodside picked up $1.11 to $47.11, Santos fell 8c to $12.92 and Oil Search fell 6c to $4.51.
The banking sector was also mixed. ANZ rose 55c to $27.40, National Australia Bank rose $1.33 to $37.81, Westpac rose 23c to $27.53 and Commonwealth Bank fell 1c to $57.77.
Orica fell 57c cents to $31.61, the explosives maker saying it hoped to take advantage of rival Dyno Nobel's decision to shelve plans for an ammonium nitrate plant at Moranbah by improving the efficiency of its own operations.
Transurban Group rose 7c to $6.77. The tollroad operator is set to expand its operations in the US, having struck a deal to construct and operate high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on the Capital Beltway, the ring road that runs around Washington, DC.
Devine was steady at $1.375 after the construction company said it expected its profit in 2006-07 to be substantially higher than last year, due in large part to property sales and joint-venture deals.
The retailers were another mixed sector. Wesfarmers rose 50c to $40.50, Woolworths rose 45c to $33.80 and David Jones rose 17c to $5.30, but Harvey Norman fell 2c to $6.41.
The media sector was stronger. News Corp rose 33c to $24.52 and its non-voting shares rose 30c to $23.72, while Fairfax rose 12c to $4.59.
The big miners were stronger, BHP Billiton rising 15c to $39.65 and Rio Tinto rising 55c to $128.55.
The spot price of gold was slightly lower, closing Sydney trading at $US801 an ounce, down US5c on Thursday's local close.
The goldminers were mixed, Newcrest rising $1.34 to $30.34, Lihir rising 12c to $3.33 and Newmont dropping 6c to $5.50.
The gold explorer Barra Resources rose 6.5c, or 22.8 per cent, to 35c after announcing a significant gold discovery at its Burbanks project in Western Australia.
The junior explorer Flinders Diamonds was the most traded stock on the market yesterday, 85.76 million shares changing hands, collectively worth $7.89 million.
The company's stock rose 0.8c to 9.3c.
Market turnover reached 1.73 billion, worth a total $10.9 billion, with 629 stocks moving up, 569 moving down and 374 unchanged.