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MELBOURNE - Australian stocks have continued their upward procession, propelled by a positive resources sector and sterling performance in the US.
At the 1615 AEST close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 49.6 points at 6343.4, while the all ordinaries added 48.2 points to 6365.3.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index futures contract was 64 points firmer at 6352 on a volume of 58,771 contracts.
Macquarie private client adviser Helen Spencer said the US market was supported by confirmation that inflation ws being kept in check, with a rally that spread to Australian shores.
"It is a bit of a tandem of both the industrials and the resource sectors, with the banks also joining in on that recovery," she said.
Higher commodity prices also helped the miners post gains today, with Rio Tinto hitting the A$100 mark for the first time.
"There were a few other contenders in the race, but Rio has certainly been the first to take that," Ms Spencer said.
"Very much the star performer today is the resource sector," Ms Spencer said.
Rio Tinto ended up A$2.59, or 2.66 per cent, at A$99.99 after bursting through A$100 to hit a high of A$100.09, while larger rival BHP Billiton improved 68 cents, or two per cent, to A$34.68.
Among energy plays, Woodside Petroleum also made solid gains, 95 cents richer at A$45.95, and Santos added seven cents to A$13.97.
Iron ore hopeful Fortescue firmed A$1.25 to A$36.20 after announcing it would expand production from its emerging iron ore mine in Western Australia to 200 million tonnes a year.
At 1623 AEST the price of gold in Sydney was up US$7.45 at US$658.7 per fine ounce.
Gold miners were feeling the benefits, with Newcrest up 32 cents at A$23.71 and Newmont one cent higher at A$4.77.
Banks were also helping the local bourse, with the Commonwealth Bank climbing 80 cents to A$55.30, NAB found 46 cents at 41.03, ANZ put on 28 cents to A$29.27 and Westpac improved 17 cents to A$25.70.
Property developer Westfield Group was one of the few casualties for the day, shedding almost 53 cents, or 2.5 per cent, to A$20.30, after coming out of a trading halt, but the stock stopped short of the A$19.50 offer price for new securities in its A$3 billion equity raising.
On Friday, US stocks rose after lower than expected inflation data cooled fears of a rate rise.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 85.76 points to 13,639.48 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 9.94 points to 1,532.91.
The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 27.30 points to 2,626.71.
Telecommunications giant Telstra finished eight cents lower at A$4.74, despite analysts saying that its failure to win a A$958 million government subsidy for the construction of a rural and regional broadband network will not seriously affect profitability.
In the media sector, commercial television broadcaster Ten Network went into a trading halt pending an announcement by the company, after speculation about its ownership prompted a surge in trading.
It last traded at A$2.97 down 13 cents on the day.
Elsewhere fortunes were mixed, with PBL losing five cents to A$19.15, News Corp dropping 48 cents to A$28.15 and its non-voting stock relinquishing 40 cents to A$26.20, but Fairfax eked out a gain of four cents to A$4.78.
Wesfarmers, which is leading a consortium pressing to take over retailer Coles, lifted A$1.11 to A$43.50, after denying it had failed to make full disclosures of its bid plans to the market, in response to an inquiry from the Australian share market.
Coles swelled eight cents to A$16.78, while larger rival Woolworths increased 28 cents to A$27.79 and David Jones was 12 cents richer at A$5.32.
The most traded stock of the day was satellite broadband services and equipment provider Newsat, which ended steady at 0.6 cents a share, after volumes of 82.15 million, worth A$492,459, changed hands.
Preliminary market turnover was 2.03 billion shares with a combined value of A$6.62 billion, with 678 companies ending higher, 661 lower and 361 unchanged.
- AAP