KEY POINTS:
The Australian stock market closed in positive territory after seven days of losses, with the banking and energy sectors driving the bourse higher.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 70.1 points at 6247, while the All Ordinaries gained 64.6 points to 6309.4.
At 1615 AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index was 96 points higher at 6288, on a volume of 17,385 contracts.
CMC Markets senior dealer Matt Lewis said gains from the finance and energy sectors combined to drive the market into positive territory.
"We saw some degree of buying today in key blue chip stocks that may have been a little oversold in the last week of losses, however the overall mood of investors remains cautious," Mr Lewis said.
"Macquarie Bank led the finance sector higher and helped push the overall market after it gained around two per cent.
"We have also seen some heavy trading in local oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum, helping drive the stock over $1 higher with traders speculating on the direction of oil in the near term."
The local market got off to a positive start following a solid lead from Wall Street overnight.
The Dow Jones put on 38.37 points to 13,245.64, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 7.12 points to 1,460.12 and the Nasdaq gained 39.85 points to 2,640.86.
Locally, the energy sector was mixed, with Woodside picking up $1.11 to $47.11, Santos losing eight cents to $12.92 and Oil Search dropping six cents to $4.51.
The banking sector was mixed, with ANZ gaining 55 cents to $27.40, the National Australia Bank putting on $1.33 to $37.81, Westpac adding 23 cents to $27.53 and the Commonwealth Bank shedding one cent to $57.77.
Orica dipped 57 cents to $31.61, with the explosives maker saying it is looking to take advantage of rival Dyno Nobel Ltd's decision to shelve its Moranbah ammonium nitrate plant by improving the efficiency of its own operations.
Transurban Group added seven cents to $6.77, with the tollroad operator set to expand its footprint in the United States, after achieving close on a concession to construct and operate high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on the capital beltway, the ring road that runs around Washington DC.
Devine was steady at $1.375 after the construction company said it expected fiscal 2007 profit to be substantially higher than last year, due in a large part to property sales and joint venture deals.
The retailers were mixed, with Wesfarmers putting on 50 cents to $40.50, Woolworths picking up 45 cents to $33.80, David Jones adding 17 cents to $5.30 and Harvey Norman losing two cents to $6.41.
The media sector was stronger, with News Corp adding 33 cents to $24.52, its non-voting shares climbing 30 cents higher to $23.72 and Fairfax gaining 12 cents to $4.59.
The big miners were stronger, with BHP Billiton finding 15 cents to $39.65 and Rio Tinto edging 55 cents higher to $128.55.
The spot price of gold was slightly lower and at 1621 AEDT was trading at US$800.30 an ounce, down US 75 cents on yesterday's local close.
The gold miners were mixed, with Newcrest adding $1.34 to $30.34, Lihir putting on 12 cents to $3.33 and Newmont dropping six cents to $5.50.
Gold explorer Barra Resources picked up 6.5 cents or 22.8 per cent to 35 cents after a significant gold discovery at its Burbanks project in Western Australia.
Junior explorer Flinders Diamonds was the most traded stock on the market today, with 85.76 million shares changing hands, collectively worth $7.89 million.
Flinders Diamonds added 0.8 cents to 9.3 cents.
Preliminary market turnover reached 1.7 billion, worth a total value of $10.75 billion, with 629 stocks moving up, 569 moving down and 374 unchanged.
- AAP