US buying and higher metal prices lift week

The sharemarket finished the week stronger following a buying spree on Wall Street and better base metal prices.
At the close the benchmark ASX 200 index was up 61.3 points to 5658, while the broader All Ordinaries index has risen 55.6 points to 5723.9. The ASX 200 showed a fall of 224.3 points, or 3.8 per cent, for the week, compared with the previous Friday's close.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index futures contract was up 20 points to 5604 points on a volume of 19,923 contracts.
CMC Markets senior dealer Matt Lewis said the market had stayed in positive territory after a strong start, despite the thin volume.
"We saw some trade flows on what were considered oversold stocks." Mr Lewis said there was a good volume of trade in the financial sector, particularly in Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank. "Despite the banks' being in the limelight after the interest rate increase this week, CBA and NAB found some buying support."
CBA closed $1.32 better at $50.14, NAB improved 63c to $33.43, Westpac rose 35c to $24.97, and ANZ added 60c to $25.60.
But the big diversified miners were weaker as investors digested BHP Billiton's formal $US147.40 billion ($164.79 billion) bid for rival Rio. BHP Billiton closed 78c down at $36.14 and Rio Tinto shed $2 to $125.
The spot price of gold locally closed at $US909.60 a fine ounce, up $US4.10 on Thursday's $US905.50. Miners were mixed. Newcrest rose 70c to $35.70 and Lihir 13c to $3.61. Newmont dropped 7c to $5.56 after it forecast an increase in the cost of the Boddington operation in Western Australia.
In other market news, shares in RHG, formerly known as RAMS Home Loans, soared almost 24 per cent, adding 5.5c to 28.5c. RHG confirmed it has refinanced $5.25 billion in short-term debt, partly through selling $1 billion in mortgages to NAB.
Shares in pay TV provider Austar edged up 1c to $1.58 after sales of its new personal digital recorder exceeded its expectations.
On Wall Street overnight stocks had risen as relatively cheap valuations tempted investors back after a three-day losing streak that had pushed the Nasdaq index into an official bear market. The Dow Jones index was up 46.90 points to 12,247.00, the S&P 500 was up 10.46 points to 1336.91 and the Nasdaq up 14.28 points to 2293.03. Australian retailers mostly gained, with Wesfarmers up $1.83 to $39.03 and Woolworths adding 69c to $28.99. David Jones dipped 3c to $4.17.
Media companies were mixed. Fairfax rose 6c to $4.17 and Consolidated Media gained 3c to $4.48. News Corp lost 2c to $22.98, as its non-voting scrip went up 9c to $22.35. In telecommunications, Telstra added 4c to $4.57 and its instalment receipts gained 4c to $3.01 while rival Singapore Telecom gained 4c to $2.99.
The most heavily traded stock was Empire Oil and Gas with 2.6 million shares changing hands, worth $6.2 million. Its price was steady at 2.2c. Overall market turnover was 1.4 billion shares worth $4.5 billion, with 698 stocks up, 496 down and 317 unchanged.