Australian markets

The Australian share market closed strongly firmer, following its best performance in over a week after a compromise was reached in the US to lift America's debt ceiling. However, local traders said the rally could be short lived because of ongoing debt concerns in Europe. On Tuesday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 81.6 points, or 1.83 per cent, at 4,549.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 79 points, or 1.74 per cent, at 4,618.4. On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was up 84 points at 4526 points, with 35,720 contracts traded. All sectors of the local market rose on Wednesday.

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Among banking stocks ANZ was up 43 cents at $21.20, National Australia Bank rose by 62 cents to $24.29, Westpac gained 48 cents to $21.16, and Commonwealth added $1.00 to $49.55. News Corp was the best performer in the top 100 stocks, up 74 cents, or 5.1 per cent, at $15.24, while its non-voting stock was up 67 cents, or 4.8 per cent, at $14.75. News chief executive Rupert Murdoch has said he would not resign because of the phone hacking scandal in the UK. Building products suppliers James Hardie and Boral were performers,after data from the US showed an increase in home building. James Hardie rose 10 cents to $5.80 and Boral was up 17 cents, or 4.18 per cent, at $4.24.

In the resources sector, BHP Billiton was up 82 cents, or 1.92 per cent, at $43.44 while Rio Tinto gained $1.22, or 1.5 per cent, to $82.55. BHP said on Wednesday it had achieved production records in four commodities in 2010/11, with production of iron ore posting its 11th consecutive record. The spot price of gold in Sydney was $1588.60 per fine ounce, down $18.47 from Tuesday's local close of $1,607.07. Gold miner Newcrest Mining gained eight cents to $40.81. Retailer Woolworths reported a 4.7 per cent lift in annual sales to $54.1 billion despite a challenging year characterised by falling prices, natural disasters and declining consumer sentiment. Its shares were up 20 cents at $27.45. Other retail stocks also were higher. Wesfarmers was up 88 cents at $31.09, David Jones rose three cents to $3.16, Myer gained seven cents to $2.44 and JB Hi-Fi was 31 cents higher at $15.36. Telstra shares were up two cents, at $3.06. Preliminary national turnover was 2.53 billion shares worth $5.17 billion, with 771 stocks up, 318 down and 333 unchanged.

The Australian dollar was higher late Wednesday after U.S. President Barack Obama said overnight progress was being made on resolving an impasse in Washington over the U.S. debt ceiling. Strong U.S. corporate earnings reports also lifted sentiment in markets with Wall Street ending sharply higher Tuesday, with the mood flowing through to strengthen equities across Asia. Australian shares recorded their biggest one-day rise since Dec. 2. The Australian dollar was at $1.0713, up from $1.0615 late Tuesday. Against the Japanese yen, the Australian dollar was at 84.70, up from 83.875.

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