Miners push stocks up

The Australian stock market closed higher, with gains in the resource and energy sectors outweighing falls from the financials.

At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 20.5 points, or 0.38%, higher at 5443.2, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 24.4 points, or 0.44%, to 5550.3.

"The oil and gas sector, with the exception of Santos, and the resource sector is really where the strength is,'' MF Global senior trader Anthony Anderson said.

"The real driver that has accounted almost entirely for all the up movement on the index is Fortescue, Rio and BHP.

"Investors are really seeing the resource sector as one place to put their money as opposed to the banks, for a change.''

The market got off to a negative start following falls on Wall Street overnight, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 108.78 points, or 0.89%, to close at 12,160.30

The big miners were stronger, with BHP Billiton adding 39 cents to $45.32 and rival Rio Tinto picking up $3.09 to $140.15.

Rio Tinto today approved a $US667 million ($A708 million) investment to expand its Pilbara iron ore operations to 320 million tonnes by 2012.

The banking sector was mixed, with Westpac adding 24 cents to $22.00, NAB losing 38 cents to $27.59, Commonwealth Bank shedding 66 cents to $40.64 and ANZ falling 24 cents to $19.51.

Travel agent Flight Centre gained $1.07 to $17.50 after the company today raised its profit guidance for 2007/08 following "continuing healthy sales growth globally'' during the second half.

Jetset Travelworld dropped 4 cents to $1.89 and has postponed a shareholder meeting to approve its merger with Qantas Holidays and Qantas Business Travel. Qantas was steady at $3.22.

The retailers were mixed, with Wesfarmers adding 79 cents to $39.40, David Jones putting on 12 cents to $3.27, Harvey Norman dropping 5 cents to $3.17 and Woolworths shedding 61 cents to $25.00.

Women's retail fashion group Noni B put on 9 cents to $2.05 despite announcing a second downgrade in less than a month as weaker consumer confidence and losses from new shops bite into its earnings.

Sims Group jumped $2.08 to $39.45 after the scrap metal recycler said its annual profit would beat analysts' forecasts, and investors pondered its attraction as a takeover target for US steel producers.

Crane group Boom Logistics lost 9.5 cents to 80 cents after the company downgraded its full-year profit guidance by up to $8 million as a result of under-performing operations in Western Australia.

The media sector was mixed, with Consolidated Media Holdings adding 6 cents to $3.14, News Corp dropping 31 cents to $18.87, its non-voting shares losing 34 cents to $18.35 and Fairfax falling 10 cents to $2.98.

The energy sector was mixed, with Woodside adding $1.55 to $63.75, Oil Search gaining 10 cents to $6.16 and Santos falling 27 cents to $21.21.

The spot price of gold was lower, and at 4.21pm was trading at $US882.35 an ounce, down $US3.25 an ounce on yesterday's local close of $S885.60 an ounce.

The gold miners were mixed, with Newcrest putting on 32 cents to $28.32, Lihir adding 4 cents to $3.02 and Newmont falling 1 cent to $5.12.

Telstra was the most traded stock on the market, with 63.2 million shares changing hands, worth $287 million. The telco was steady at $4.55.

Preliminary market turnover reached 1.99 billion, worth $7.03 billion, with 557 stocks up, 683 stocks down and 377 unchanged.

At 4.15pm on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index contract was 24 points higher at 5443, on a volume of
72,314 contracts.