Aussie stocks close higher

SYDNEY - The Australian share market closed moderately higher on Friday driven by gains on financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 12.1 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 4713.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had gained 6.8 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 4714.8 points.

AT 1615 AEST, the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was one point higher at 4728 points on a volume of 30,034 contracts.

RBS Morgans director of equities Bill Chatterton said the banking sector had lit up the market later in the afternoon.

"The sector that's really turned around is the financial sector after ANZ came out with an acquisition of an ING business.

"The rest (of the market) is fairly lacklustre, if you look at the materials sectors BHP and Rio - they're both off a little bit."

ANZ rose 30 cents to $23.79 after it bought the half of its wealth management joint venture with ING Group that it doesn't already own for $1.86 billion to expand its footprint in the wealth and life insurance market.

National Australia Bank lifted 55 cents to $30.42, Westpac added 61 cents to $26.17 and Commonwealth Bank rose $1.30 to $51.30.

BHP Billiton dropped 17 cents to $37.55, while rival Rio Tinto sank 94 cents to $59.98.

In the US on Thursday, the Dow Jones fell 41.11 points, or 0.4 per cent, to settle at 9707.44.

In news on Friday, HalcyGen Pharmaceuticals is set to greatly boost its size and scale through the acquisition of the much larger Mayne Pharma International Pty Ltd (MPI).

Its shares closed up 1.5 cents at 39.5 cents.

Grains marketer and rural services provider AWB said it had raised $220 million from an oversubscribed sale of new shares to institutional investors. Its shares closed up 9.75 cents at to $1.32.

Luxury goods company OrotonGroup shares jumped 67 cents, or 14.63 per cent, to $5.25 after it lifted annual profit by 16.1 per cent.

Network Ten majority stakeholder Canwest said it had completed the selldown of its 50.06 per cent holding in the broadcaster.

Ten added 2.5 cents to $1.39, Seven rose five cents to $6.25 and Consolidated Media was up one cent at $3.01.

Among the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum added 69 cents to $52.40, Oil Search gained two cents to $6.48 but Santos backtracked 11 cents to $15.00.

By 1635 AEST, the spot price of gold in Sydney was US$997.47 per fine ounce, down $15.85 on Thursday's closing price of US$1013.32.

Among the gold stocks, Lihir was off by six cents to $2.95, Newcrest fell 19 cents to $33.40 and Newmont was eight cents weaker at $4.96.

The most traded stock by volume was Ten Network with 548.38 million shares worth $714.44 million changing hands.

Preliminary market turnover was 3.48 billion shares worth $8.14 billion, with 481 stocks up, 654 down and 323 steady.

- AAP