(YTWHW.com Australia) - The Australian share market resumed its recovery Thursday from the six-month low hit last week at the height of Japan's nuclear crisis. Materials stocks led broad-based gains after commodity prices soared following Japan's revelation that the cost of rebuilding after the earthquake disaster would cost US$300 billion. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 47.2 points, or 1.0%, at a 10-day high of 4699.6, after jumping 10 points in the closing match. However, share trading volume remained light. On the charts, the index was approaching minor resistance at 4710.0--the 50% retracement of the February-to-March decline. The 200-day moving average was offering support at 4640.0. Overnight, Wall Street's S&P 500 brushed off weak new home sales data, as miners rose on the back of strong gains in base metal prices. "The strong rise in metal prices has given the materials sector a boost despite disappointing U.S. housing data," said Macquarie Private Wealth investment adviser Marcus Droga. "The market is looking through the weaker U.S. housing data because the reconstruction of Japan is going to cause significant demand for raw materials." Traders were keeping an eye on Japan's nuclear crisis after renewed signs of trouble at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant. Tokyo Electric Power Co. reported early Thursday that smoke was coming from its no. 2 and 4 reactors. However, Japan's Nikkei index was flat. "Sentiment seems to have rebounded pretty strongly from where it was early last week," said IG Markets strategist Ben Potter. "You only have to look at how it is reacting to bad news. It seems the market is now viewing the glass as half full rather than half empty." BHP Billiton rose 1.2% to A$44.71 and Rio Tinto rose 1.1% to A$81.60, while Fortescue rose 4.3% to A$6.12. Newcrest rose 2.6% to A$38.05 after gold gained 0.7%. Atlas Iron surged 8.4% to A$3.47 and Equinox Minerals jumped 4.5% to A$5.32. In the financial sector, Westpac rose 1.7% to A$23.42 and QBE rose 1.2% to A$17.09. Qantas rose 1.9% to A$2.13 after increasing domestic fares for the second time this year as unrest in North Africa and the Middle East continues to push up oil prices. Caltex fell 5.3% to A$15.31 after reporting a slump in its refiner margins. Consolidated Media hit a 13-month low of A$2.75 after Kerry Stokes, whose Seven Group owns just under 25% of the company, said he's very happy with his investment. Cynics pointed out that it could be in Stokes' interest to talk down the prospect of a buyout, if that's the intention. "It may well suit him to have the share price languish, then privatize later this year with Packer near A$3.00 a share," said a trader who declined to be named. Packer's Consolidated press owns about 50% of ConsMedia. Consolidated Media shares closed down 1.7% at A$2.84. Seven rose 3.6% to A$8.29. Defensive stocks took a breather, with Cochlear down 0.8% to A$79.83, Woolworths down 0.2% to A$25.74 and Telstra down 0.4% to A$2.66. Macquarie's Droga said U.S. durable goods and GDP data could have some impact on global equity markets before the weekend. "We will look to those numbers to see how the U.S. economy is tracking, but there's no doubt that the reconstruction of Japan will generate sustainably higher demand for building materials, particularly steel and copper," he said. Europe was also in focus after Portugal's minority government collapsed as the opposition voted down austerity measures. Analysts said Portugal could be forced to seek a financial bailout from the European Union.

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