Australian stocks up on quiet day

Australian stocks ended firmer yesterday, overcoming a weak start to finish marginally higher on a quiet day, when players stayed mostly on the sidelines.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 13.6 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 4409.9 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 15 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 4429.5 points. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the September futures contract was 11 points higher at 4395 points on turnover of 16,766 contracts.

The market opened 0.1 per cent weaker, defying a positive finish from Wall St and stronger commodities prices during weekend offshore trading.

But by noon, the numbers had turned from red to green, led by rallies among the big miners, gold stocks and the consumer discretionary sector.

By the finish, almost seven stocks rose for every five that fell on a day of anaemic volumes and low turnover.

Burrell Stockbroking director Richard Herring said the market was reluctant to extend any rallies too far given the uncertainty about the global economic recovery.

"I can certainly understand the hesitancy. It is a difficult outlook," Herring said.

"The seas are anything but calm, going forward.

"As the global economic recovery tries to gather some legs and build a case to build momentum from, we really need the United States to continue to keep adding little bricks to the wall."

Among the big miners, BHP climbed 18c to A$38.61, Rio Tinto was up 67c at A$68.77, while Fortescue Metals skipped ahead 3c to A$4.46.

The spot price of gold in Sydney was US$1209.00 per fine ounce, up US$11.40 from Friday's close of US$1197.60.

- AAP