KEY POINTS:
At 1620 AEST the spot price of gold in Sydney was US$13.20 higher at US$672.80 per fine ounce.
But gold producers were mixed, Newcrest up 20 cents at $23.80, Lihir slipped six cents to $2.96.
Energy interests were mixed also, with Woodside Petroleum down 10 cents at $39.25, but Santos gained 10 cents to $39.25.
Cement maker and takeover target Rinker Group warned that a depressed US housing market may cut into its profit in the 2008 financial year, but its shares ended two cents up at $18.66.
Travel group Flight Centre also managed to gain eight cents to $16.41 after reporting that nine-month profit is running well ahead of expectations.
The local bourse's lower close bucked a positive lead from Wall Street as the Dow Jones industrial average rose to its second straight close above 13,000, propelled by a fresh wave of better-than-expected profit results.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 15.61 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 13,105.50. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended down 1.17 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 1,494.25.
The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 6.57 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 2,554.46.
- AAP