Aussie shares maintained momentum through the afternoon to post a solid 1.2% gain by the close of trade. The rally was on the back of a strong lead from Wall Street overnight on renewed confidence that Europe will be able to deal with its debt problems, with miners, not including gold, and energy stocks the major beneficiaries.
In positive news for the economy and housing stocks, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the total number of houses and apartments that started construction in the 1Q of 2010 climbed 4.3% from the previous corresponding period to a seasonally adjusted 42,399 units.
Meanwhile, the annualised rate of the Westpac-Melbourne institute leading index of economic activity was 7.6% in April. This is well above the long-term trend of 3%.
At the end of the day, the All Ords rallied 54.5 to 4,572.1, while the ASX/200 gained 54.0 to 4,559.0. Around 1.9 billion shares worth around $5.3 billion had changed hands.
BHP Billiton rose 84c, or 2.2% to $39.23 as Morgan Stanley said expansion at the mining giant’s Olympic Dam operation is unlikely to proceed due to the Federal Government’s proposed resource super profits tax.
Rio Tinto announced this morning that it had received final environmental approvals for its Kennecott Eagle nickel and copper mine in Michigan and is therefore set to invest US$469 million in constructing the operation. The diversified miner added $1.92 to $71.34.
Fortescue gained 13c, or 3.1% to $4.27 as the Materials and Resources sector advanced 2.2%.
Gold miners Newcrest and Lihir were essentially flat despite the price of the yellow metal rising in New York.
Sims Metal climbed 3.6% to $19.24 after Credit Suisse upgraded its rating on the metals recycler to ‘outperform’.
Other mid-tier miners also outperformed the broader market. Atlas Iron, Murchison Metals and Gindalbie Metals climbed 10.3%, 11.1% and 8.9% respectively.
Amcor advanced 3.1% as the packaging company announced the acquisition of US company, Ball Plastics Packaging Americas from Ball Corporation for US$280 million.
Coal companies led the Energy sector 1.1% into the black.
Aquila, Centennial and Whitehaven rallied between 4% and 6.2%, with the latter reiterating last week’s announcement that it has no current plans to raise new equity.
Sector major Woodside added 32c to $44.98, while Santos and Oil Search gained 0.9% and 0.8%.
The price of crude increased to its highest level in over one month on the back of a bullish outlook for global growth and robust gains by the euro and equities markets.
Meanwhile, the Bank and Financials sector was up 0.9%.
CBA was the best of the big four, up 78c, or 1.5% to $52.98. The remaining three were between 0.7% and 0.9% above the line.
Investment bank Macquarie rose 1.1% to $45.55, while insurer Suncorp-Metway added 2.5%.
In fact, QBE was the only insurer to lose ground Wednesday, shedding 11c, or 0.6% to $18.95.
Lend Lease put on 16c, or 2.1% to $7.86 as the Property Trusts sector moved 0.4% higher.
Consistent gains from the majors resulted in a 1.8% rally from the Industrials sector.
Qantas and Brambles added 3.3% and 2.3% respectively, while Asciano rose 2.2% to $1.625.
Leighton added 27c to $32.31.
Newscorp was a standout in the Consumer Discretionary sector, which was up 2.1%. The media company recovered yesterday’s losses with a 4.3% jump after confirming it has made an approach to buy the remainder of BSkyB it doesn't already own.
Pacific Brands climbed 4c to 97c after several days of heavy selling.
It was more mixed among Consumer Staples stocks.
A 0.5% gain to $28.95 from Wesfarmers was countered by 2.7% and 1.1% drops from beverage stocks Foster’s and Coca-Cola as the sector edged 0.1% lower.
Pharmaceutical company Sigma gained 1.5c to 49.5c as it announced Mark Hooper would be returning to the company after a four-year absence to take on the roles of managing director and CEO.
The Healthcare sector was down 0.3%.
Around the region, the Nikkei 225 rallied 176.5 to 10,064.4, while the NZSE50 gained 22.7 to 3,066.6. The Straits Times Index advanced 34.2 to 2,852.4. The Hang Seng climbed 10.2 to 20,062.2.
Spot gold was trading at US$1,233.90 per ounce, while the Aussie was buying US$0.8639.
