The Australian share market made slight gains today after reaching a five month high in early trade. Mining shares led the way, on the back of a strong lead from Wall Street and firmer commodity prices. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) gained 21.6pts or 0.5pct to 4762.1.

Coal and metal stocks lead China's share market higher today, while markets in Japan were closed for a public holiday.

The materials sector increased by 1.2pct, with BHP Billiton (BHP) adding 1.1pct to $41.45 and Rio Tinto (RIO) up 0.7pct to $80.09. Shares in Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) climbed an impressive 7.8pct to $6.25 after restructuring its debt. The miner claims the restructure will allow it to save US$60 million a year, and could grow to US$100 million. Shares in Australia's largest listed gold producer Newcrest Mining (NCM) added 0.6pct to $42.16, as the price of the Comex gold contract rose to US$1353.20 an ounce during Asian trade.

Westpac (WBC) CEO Gail Kelly today indicated that interest rates on the bank's loans will rise "over time". Ms Kelly said Australia's second biggest bank continues to experience higher funding costs which may need to be passed onto customers. Shares in WBC closed down 0.1pct to $23.16 after a positive start, while the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) closed steady at $51.12. Shares in the NAB (NAB) added 0.2pct to $25.80 while the ANZ (ANZ) increased by 0.4pct to $24.16. Macquarie Group (MQG) shed 1.5pct to $35.36.

Woolworths (WOW) today completed a $704 million share buyback, sending its share price down 1.7pct to $29.20. Shares in Wesfarmers (WES) were also dragged lower, falling 1.1pct to $33.62.

David Jones (DJS) closed up 0.2pct to $4.94 while Harvey Norman (HVN) lost 1.1pct to $3.68. Myer Limited (MYR) fared better, rising 0.3pct to $3.85.

Telstra (TLS) shares added 0.8pct to $2.68.

Loans for the construction of homes fell for the tenth consecutive month in August, the longest losing streak since records were first obtained back in 1975. They are now holding at 19 month lows. Overall, home lending recorded a modest rise in August. The number of new home loans to owner-occupiers rose for only the third time in 11 months, rising by 1pct. In annual terms housing finance commitments are down 22.8pct on a year ago.

The value of investment loans fell for the third consecutive month down by 3.9pct in August. In trend terms home loans (excluding refinancing) have only been lower once before in the past decade.

The average home loan across Australia stood at $287,700, up 7.9pct on a year ago.

According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum the national average retail pump price fell just 0.3 cents a litre last week to 122.7 cents a litre. However looking forward petrol prices are set to rise. The key Singapore unleaded petrol price rose by US$1.96 (2.3pct) to a six month high, while the terminal gate or wholesale petrol prices edged up by almost three cents a litre since the start of October.

The Australian dollar ended the day's trade weaker against the greenback and at 4pm AEST was worth US98.6c, £0.6186 and €70.56c.

On the market overall, a total of 2.73 billion shares were traded, worth $4.46 billion. 673 were up, 515 were down and 346 were unchanged.

Ahead tonight, the Columbus Day holiday is celebrated in the US. The stock market will be open, but the bond markets are closed.