The Australian share market posted solid gains today, recovering much of yesterday's losses, on the back of a positive lead from Wall Street and suggestions US markets will open strongly again tonight. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed higher by 46pts or 1.1pct to 4418.7 while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) advanced by 45.3pts or 1pct to 4403.6.

The materials sector posted the best gains, on the back of firmer copper prices, rising 1.6pct. Shares in Rio Tinto (RIO) added 2.3pct to $66.50 while BHP Billiton (BHP) was up 1.5pct to $38.30. Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) gained 2.2pct to $4.13. Gold players eased however, as the price of the precious metal fell in London trade. Newcrest Mining (NCM) dropped 0.5pct to $33.50 while Lihir Gold (LGL) was off 0.5pct to $4.12.

The energy sector closed marginally higher in response to a firmer oil price with shares in Caltex (CTX) up 2.9pct to $9.99. H

owever uranium explorer Paladin Energy (PDN) fell 0.8pct to $3.58 after announcing it is contemplating a takeover of NGM Resources (NGM). NGM remained in a halt, last at $0.093.

The financial sector increased by 1.1pct with shares in the NAB (NAB) and ANZ (ANZ) leading the way. The NAB added 1.5pct to $24.40 while the ANZ was up 1.5pct to $22.34. Shares in the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) gained 0.7pct to $50.87 while Westpac (WBC) moved higher by 1.3pct to $22.42. Macquarie Group (MQG) rose by 0.7pct to $38.75.

MAp Group (MAP) rose 2.1pct to $2.88 after announcing solid passenger numbers at its three main airports in June. Domestic travel at Sydney Airport was among the strongest.

Qantas (QAN) gained 4.9pct to $2.38. The airline today entered into an integrated national cleaning and facilities management contract with Spotless Group (SPT) and announced a series of
initiatives designed to minimise queuing for domestic flights. SPT shares rose 2.9pct to $2.11.

Agrichemical company Nufarm (NUF) rose 5.2pct to $3.42 on a broker upgrade.

Minutes from the Reserve Bank Board's July meeting were released today and show inflation is key to futures rate movements. "Consumer price inflation data for the June quarter would be published on 28 July, and the staff expected them to show the underlying rate of inflation continuing to moderate in year-ended terms, to be below 3 per cent for the first time in three years. CPI inflation was, however, expected to rise to a little above 3 per cent, partly due to the effects of higher taxes on tobacco. Measures of inflation expectations had eased a little over the past month."

The Australian dollar ended the day's trade firmer against the greenback, buying US87.93c, £0.5752 and €67.63c.

On the market overall, a total of 1.69 billion shares were traded, worth $4.81 billion. 606 were up, 395 were down and 318 were unchanged.

At 4.15pm AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Share Price Index (SPI) futures contract was at 4383, up 55 points.

Ahead tonight, housing starts data is released in the US.

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