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SYDNEY - The Australian sharemarket staged a relief rally, despite the distraction of the Melbourne Cup and weakness from the United States amid ongoing global credit concerns.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 45.7 points higher at 6628 and the all ordinaries put on 39 points to 6659.1.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price contract was 37 points higher at 6645 on a volume of 20,384 contracts.
ABN Amro Morgan's private client adviser Bill Bishop said although many punters were glued to the television watching the Melbourne Cup, local markets rallied despite the poor lead from Wall Street overnight.
"The market is still terribly emotional regarding the sub-prime market and credit issues.
"Plus the fact that Charles Prince [the worldwide chief executive] walked from Citigroup yesterday, really put some wind up the market.
US equity markets posted modest losses overnight as markets reacted to the news that Prince had resigned and that the bank was likely to write down a further US$11 billion ($14.2 billion) in losses tied to sub-prime securities.
Bishop said the miners were mixed on differing commodity price directions, with BHP Billiton gaining 45c to A$44.15 while rival Rio Tinto shed 25c to A$108.50.
The energy stocks were mixed, with Santos 7c down to A$13.50, Oil Search lost 4c at A$4.34, and Woodside added 64c at A$52.
- AAP
