Australian share prices closed 0.38 percent higher on Monday as investors continued to buy into the resources stocks on the back of strong underlying metals prices, dealers said.
They said near record oil prices and the prospect of more to come raised concerns about the possible impact on the ecconomy, hitting the banks and financial stocks.
The key S and P/ASX 200 index added 19.7 points to 5,269.8 while the All Ordinaries Index gained 18.6 points to 5,217.7.
Turnover was 1.26 billion shares worth 3.22 billion dollars (2.40 billion US), with rises outnumbering falls 604 to 517 and 344 stocks steady.
Dealers said the jump in copper, gold and nickel prices on Friday pushed up heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto which led the market higher.
Banking and other financial stocks were hit by concerns about the impact of higher oil prices on economic growth.
"I think what you are seeing is a bounce from Friday on resources after strong commodity prices translated into attention on the resources sector to the detriment of the banks," Bell Potter private client advisor Stuart Smith said.
Among the major miners, BHP Billiton shares rose 0.91 dollars or 3.02 percent to close at a new record of 31.01 dollars. Rio Tinto gained 1.75 dollars or 2.17 percent to a fresh high of 82.55 dollars.
Gold miner Lihir gained 0.05 to 3.15 after announcing its March quarter production jumped 7.26 percent from December.
In the banks, National Australia Bank dropped 0.21 to 36.99, Commonwealth Bank shed 0.08 to 46.39 and Westpac lost 0.05 to 24.60 but ANZ added 0.13 to 27.68.
Oil stocks were generally higher with Woodside Petroleum adding 0.11 to 48.01, Oil Search rising 0.11 to 4.50 and Santos gaining 0.12 to 12.38.
Telstra eased 0.03 to 3.76 and rival SingTel slipped 0.01 to 2.30.
Qantas lost 0.07 to 3.49 and budget carrier Virgin Blue dropped 0.045 to 1.755.
Comments
Comments are closed.