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MELBOURNE - The Australian stock market continued its record run today, underpinned by solid gains from major miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished 31.5 points higher at a record 6483, eclipsing the previous best close of 6451.5 points set yesterday.
The all ordinaries index picked up 29.8 points to a record 6490.9, beating the previous high of 6461.1, which was also set yesterday.
Both indices also claimed new intraday records, with the S&P/ASX200 index peaking at 6509.6 points and the all ordinaries hitting 6515.2 points.
At 1615 AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 46 points higher at 6548, on a volume of 21,728 contracts.
Macquarie Equities client adviser David Halliday said the market's record run was underpinned by the resources sector, particularly BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
"You can't go past the resource sector, they have done all the heavy lifting for the last year and a half and they have continued to do it once again today," Mr Halliday said.
"BHP and Rio cracked new record highs and then went and cracked those highs again intraday, it is absolutely phenomenal ... it is really those two stocks that have done all the hard work today.
"We have gone against the US again today, it seems like we have our own momentum at the moment (and) everyone is saying it is not a bad time to be involved in the Australian market."
BHP Billiton surged A$1.46 to A$44.60, while rival Rio Tinto gained A$1.36 to A$108.04.
The market got off to a sluggish start following a weak lead from Wall Street overnight.
US stocks fell overnight on reports Deutsche Bank could have its annual profit slashed by as much as A$2.4 billion from its exposure to US sub-prime mortgages.
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 61.13 points to finish at 13,759.06, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 8.02 points to 1,517.73 and the Nasdaq dropped 3.27 points to 2,667.95.
Locally, the banks were mixed, with Commonwealth Bank adding 18 cents to A$56.40, National Australia Bank gaining 31 cents to A$38.60, Westpac dropping 14 cents to A$27.31 and ANZ losing two cents to A$28.69.
National Australia Bank today agreed to sell its commercial fleet business to a subsidiary of South African-based Super Group for A$342 million.
The retailers were mixed, with Harvey Norman picking up 11 cents to A$5.84, Woolworths losing 30 cents to A$29.50, Coles shedding 17 cents to A$15.03 and David Jones dipping nine cents to A$4.95.
Westfield put on 27 cents to A$21.56 on news the world's largest shopping mall owner could be eyeing expansion opportunities in Europe.
Sims Group added 55 cents to A$33.10 after the world's largest recycler of scrap metal moved to strengthen its position in the North American market through an A$1.85 billion merger with Metal Management Inc.
The media sector was mixed, with PBL picking up 41 cents to A$19.00, News Corp dipping 26 cents to A$26.67, its non-voting shares losing 26 cents to A$25.11 and Fairfax shedding four cents to A$4.53.
The energy sector was mixed, with Santos gaining 29 cents to A$14.80, Oil Search adding seven cents to A$4.38 and Woodside retreating A$1.09 to A$49.10.
The spot price of gold was lower and at 1624 AEST was trading at US$727.30 an ounce, down US$6.70 an ounce on yesterday's local close.
The gold miners were weaker, with Newcrest losing A$1.11 to A$27.28, Lihir shedding 13 cents to A$3.78 and Newmont dipping one cent to A$5.53.
Empire Oil & Gas was the most traded stock on the market today, with 175.14 million shares changing hands, worth A$4.17 million.
The oil and gas explorer dipped 0.4 cents to 2.2 cents.
Preliminary market turnover reached 1.91 billion, worth a total value fo A$7.26 billion, with 653 stocks up, 610 stocks down and 335 unchanged.
- AAP