Share market posts strong gains

THE stock market was higher at noon ahead of the Christmas break, spurred on by a strong Wall Street close on Friday and higher base metal prices.
At 12.10am AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 60 points or 0.96 per cent higher at 6307, while the All Ordinaries had gained 59.4 points to 6368.8.

”I think the market has gone from beer to champagne for Christmas,'' CMC Markets senior dealer Dominic Vaughan said.

”We got a good lead out of the United States and metals were up. “The market is extremely positive today.''

The stock market will close early at 2.15pm AEDT and will remain closed for Christmas Day and Boxing Day before normal trading resumes on Thursday.

In the resources sector, BHP Billiton was up 73 cents, or 1.84 per cent to $40.38, while Rio Tinto had added $2.79 or 2.17 per cent to $131.34.

The UK Takeover Panel on Friday gave BHP until February 6 to either launch a takeover of rival Rio Tinto or walk away.

”It looks like Rio is trying to force BHP's hand to make a better commitment than they have coming in to post-Christmas,'' Mr Vaughan said.

The banking sector was also stronger, with Westpac finding 41 cents or 1.49 per cent to $27.94 at 12.12pm AEDT, National Australia Bank gaining 19 cents to $38.00, ANZ up seven cents to $27.47 and Commonwealth Bank gaining 18 cents to $57.95.

US stocks finished at the highest level in three weeks on Friday, as strong results from the company behind the BlackBerry boosted technology shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 205.01 points to 13,450.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index leapt 24.34 points to 1,484.46 and the Nasdaq Composite Index surged 51.13 points to 2691.99.

At 12.20pm AEDT, in energy, Woodside Petroleum gained 77 cents, or 1.63 per cent, to $47.88, while Santos increased 25 cents, or 1.93 per cent, to $13.17.

The spot price of gold was $US810.00, up $US9.00 from Friday's closing Sydney price of $US801.00.

Newcrest Mining gained eight cents to $30.42, Newmont rose 10 cents to $5.60 and Lihir gained nine cents to $3.42.

In the media sector, Consolidated Media Holdings lost two cents to $4.39. News Corp gained 22 cents to $24.74 and its non-voting scrip was up 21 cents to $23.93. Fairfax rose two cents to $4.61.

Telstra gained four cents to $4.75, while Optus-owner Singapore Telecommunications fell three cents to $2.99.

source: news.com