The Australian share market closed marginally higher on thin trading volumes in the absence of a lead from Wall Street due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 4.9 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 4,598.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 6.9 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 4,690.2 points. On the ASX24, the December share price index futures contract was three points higher at 4,598 points, with 17,942 contracts traded.

Energy stocks led the market after oil prices moved above $84 overnight, with traders now anticipating another test of recent highs of $88 a barrel. Oil Search was up six cents at $6.70 and Woodside added 30 cents to $40.95. Santos inched two cents lower to $12.31 after saying it had approved the development of the Wortel gas project in Indonesia for an estimated $101.91 million. BHP Billiton rose 11 cents to $43.20, Rio Tinto lifted 99 cents, or 1.19 per cent, to $84.04 and Fortescue was two cents higher at $6.65. Sundance Resources was up 2.5 cents, or 6.85 per cent, at 39 cents after more than 71 million shares worth $27.05 million changed hands, making it the third most traded stock by volume.

The spot price of gold in Sydney was $1,372.30 per fine ounce, up 22 cents on Thursday's closing price of $1,372.08 per fine ounce. Newcrest was 27 cents firmer at $40.37, while fellow gold miner Avoca Resources put on six cents to $3.27. Commonwealth Bank was down 43 cents at $47.58 after it announced it had completed a bookbuild for its $500 million inaugural retail bond series, with strong support from the market. Westpac was down five cents at $21.15 and National Australia Bank was seven cents weaker at $23.23 but ANZ was five cents higher at $22.52. In the headlines on Friday, Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens has stood by the actions of the major banks during this month's latest round of mortgage rate hikes, saying banking is not like a normal business. The central bank also said borrowers were expected to be spared a Christmas interest rate rise and indicated that inflationary pressures were unlikely to ease much further.

Aristocrat Leisure has flagged a slump in full year operating profit as the gaming machine maker struggles in North America and Japan. Aristocrat shares fell 63 cents, or 18.92 per cent, to $2.70. It was the worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 100 index. Premier Investments says it expects earnings in 2010/11 from its core operation, Just Group, will be at the lower end of its earlier guidance range of $100-110 million, following a harder first quarter than anticipated. Shares in Premier Investments finished 24 cents, or 3.75 per cent, lower at $6.16.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 100 index was Africa focused coal miner Riversdale Mining. Its shares closed up 35 cents, or 2.67 per cent, at $13.45. Datamotion Asia was the top traded stock by volume, with 201.31 million shares worth $901,178 changing hands. The company's shares jumped 0.1 cents, or 33.33 per cent, to 0.4 cents after it said it had completed its due diligence on Universal Rare Earths and was particularly encouraged by a rare earths target in Western Australia. Preliminary national turnover was 2.65 billion shares, worth $6.28 billion, with 540 stocks up, 517 down and 405 unchanged.

The Australian dollar tumbled Friday after Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens spelled out policy settings are not only appropriate for now but likely won't change in the near term either. The Australian dollar traded at $0.9737, down from $0.9792 late Thursday. Against the Japanese yen, the currency traded at 81.55, from 81.78.