Local stocks rallied today, buoyed by strength in the Asian region and the Australian dollar. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose 74.8pts or 1.6pct to 4765.9 while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) was firmer by 79.2pts or 1.7pct to 4699.1.

The Australian dollar hit a fresh 28 year high against the greenback just after 11am AEDT of US99.72c.

Just before the bell, Rio Tinto (RIO) released 3Q production figures, which were well received by the market. RIO shares added 4.4pct by close to $82.08. BHP Billiton (BHP) gained 2.1pct to $41.66 while Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) closed up 1.3pct to $6.38 after hitting an earlier high of $6.66.

The price of gold rose a further 0.8pct during Asian trade to US$1380.80 an ounce. Shares in Newcrest Mining (NCM) closed higher by 3.3pct to $42.52.

The energy sector rose 1.9pct with the Nymex contract higher by US$0.74 to US$83.75 at 4pm AEDT. Shares in Woodside Petroleum (WPL) gained 1.5pct to $44.39 while Santos (STO) was firmer by 0.9pct to $12.84 and Oilsearch (OSH) added 2.7pct to $6.40. Shares in Caltex (CTX) firmed by 5.1pct to $12.30.

Online job classifieds provider Seek Limited (SEK) rose 1.1pct to $7.44 on news CEO and co-founder Paul Bassat will leave the company on June 30 2011. Co-founder Andrew Bassat will take full control of the company from that date.

Telstra (TLS) shares added 1.1pct to $2.68.

APN News and Media (AON) today appointed a new CEO, who will start in January next year. APN shares fell 0.5pct to $1.98
In the healthcare sector, shares in Resmed (RMD) fell 3pct to $3.20 in the wake of its Q1 results, while CSL Limited (CSL) which issued a profit warning yesterday, fell 0.7pct to $32.06.

The Australian dollar ended the day's trade just off those 28 year highs at US99.67c, £0.6234 and €70.76c.

On the market overall, a total of 2.86 billion shares were traded, worth $6 billion. 730 were up, 434 were down and 355 were unchanged.

At 4.30pm AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Share Price Index (SPI) futures contract was at 4713, up 77pts.

Ahead tonight, producer prices, trade and jobless claims data is released in the US.