The Australian share market notched up a second session of wins today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rising 10pts or 0.2pct to 4428.7.

BHP Billiton (BHP) shares rose 1.2pct to $38.75 in response to the miner's fourth quarter production report. BHP recorded record output for iron ore and petroleum, however copper production fell 11pct on the previous year, while uranium production fell 43pct and gold was down 19pct. BHP also issued a statement that it cautious about the short-term outlook for the Australian economy. Shares in Rio Tinto (RIO) rose 2pct to $67.80. Elsewhere gold stocks suffered, with Newcrest Mining (NCM) down 0.6pct to $33.31 and Lihir Gold (LGL) off 0.5pct to $4.10. At 4pm AEST the Comex gold contract was lower, down 0.2pct to $1188.80 an ounce.

The energy sector fell 0.4pct as the Nymex oil contract also eased during Asian trade. Shares in Woodside Petroleum (WPL) eased by 1.7pct to $41.05 while Santos (STO) was down 0.9pct to $13.75. Caltex (CTX) shares bucked the trend, rising 2.8pct to $10.27. Uranium explorer Paladin Energy (PDN) fell 1.1pct to $3.54 after launching a $27 million bid for NGM Resources (NGM), which has been endorsed by the company. NGM shares rose 45.2pct to $0.135 on the deal, which will see NGM shareholders receive 1 PDN share for every 23.9 NGM shares they own.

The financial sector advanced by 0.3pct with most of the majors finishing in the black. Shares in Westpac (WBC) rose 0.5pct to $22.52 while the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) was up 0.6pct to $51.15 and the ANZ (ANZ) rose 0.7pct to $22.49. However shares in the NAB (NAB) fell 0.8pct to $24.20 after its takeover target AXA Asia Pacific (AXA) indicated it expects to report a 19pct fall in 1H profit. AXA shares however rose, up 2.3pct to $5.39. Macquarie Group (MQG) gained 0.5pct to $38.95.

Shares in Woolworths (WOW) slumped 1.8pct to $26.19 after the retailer posted 4Q sales slightly below market consensus. Rival retailer Wesfarmers (WES) fell 0.7pct to $28.29.

Elsewhere, shares in the Ten Network (TEN) rose 3.7pct to $1.68, Telstra (TLS) was down 0.6pct to $3.22 and CSL Limited (CSL) fell 0.9pct to $32.34.

There was no major economic data released locally today and the Australian dollar eased to US88.24c, £0.5768 and €68.41c.

ON the market overall, a total of 2.42 billion shares were traded, worth $4.52 billion. 540 were up, 446 were down and 351 were unchanged.

At 4.15pm AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Share Price Index (SPI) futures contract was at 4393, up 11pts.

Ahead tonight, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivers a testimony on the US economy. Before the open; Coca-Cola, Domino's Pizza, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo report. After the bell, eBay and Starbucks will release earnings.