Banks and miners lift share market at closeThe Australian share market closed higher today after the major banks and miners gave the share market a boost. Resource stocks lifted following Rio Tinto and Fortescue posting strong output results. Of the Big Four banks, ANZ led the pack, gaining 28 cents at close.
The S&P/ASX200 Index gained 39 points to close at 4,802. On the futures market, the SPI is 33 points higher.
Company news: Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) has posted a record iron ore production for 2010, after posting a lift in output for the fourth quarter. The miner set a new quarterly production record at 65 million tonnes in December, bringing its full year production to 239 million tonnes. Rio’s Australian hard coking coal production rose 8 per cent as a result of increased investment at its Queensland operations. Thermal coal output fell 9 per cent due to wet weather in the Hunter Valley. Shares in Rio Tinto closed 1.07 per cent at $86.80.
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) has reported a 9 per cent increase in iron ore production to 9.93 million tonnes in the December quarter compared the previous year. Production fell 1.5 per cent when compared to the last quarter, but is expected to pick up in the next quarter. In its quarterly report, Fortescue says while the stronger Australian dollar has led to a rise in operating costs, it has been largely offset by stronger commodity prices. The company says it has also secured board approval to spend $8.5 billion to triple iron ore production from 55 million tonnes to 155 million tonnes per annum. Shares in Fortescue Metals closed 8.02 per cent at $7.27.
Leighton Holdings Ltd’s (ASX:LEI) subsidiary Thiess has secured a $136 million coal seam gas infrastructure contract in Queensland. Works are due to begin this month and scheduled for completion in March 2012.
Singapore Exchange (SGX) says it is on track to complete the $7.9 billion takeover of Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX:ASX) this year, but political obstacles to Asia Pacific’s first major merger exchanges continues to be a challenge.
Property developer Lend Lease Group (ASX:LLC) says its concept plans for the Calderwood urban development south of Sydney have been given the green light from the state government.
Online travel agent Webjet Ltd (ASX:WEB) has signed a 50 per cent joint venture agreement with World Aviation Services to help it expand its services in Europe.
Best and worst performers: The best performing sector at close was Healthcare, with the index rising 115 points to close at 9,110. The worst performing sector was Telco Services, the index falling 2 points to close at 982. The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX200 was Fortescue Metals as mentioned before. Shares in Sundance Resources and PaperLinX also gained today. The worst performing stock was OceanaGold as shares lost 5.63 per cent to close at $3.02. Shares in Virgin Blue and Goodman Fielder also closed softer today.
In commodities, gold is trading at $US1,365 dollars an ounce and light crude is down $0.37 to $US91.17 a barrel.
