Aussie shares continue to rally
The Australian share market has opened higher on strong US leads and iron ore price gains.
US stocks extended the rally that began late last week with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing 0.12 per cent higher on Monday.
Wall Street's gains and better commodity prices had driven the Australian share market higher, Bell Direct equities analyst Leanne Jones said.
However, she said, Chinese data out later on Tuesday could either boost or weaken stocks in the mining-related materials sector.
"The positive leads from Wall Street and a pickup in iron ore and gold prices have helped our market open higher," she said.
"But all eyes will be on the materials sector because there's a lot of Chinese data coming out today that will either drive them up or down."
She said the key figure would be China's gross domestic production, which is expected to slow to about 7.2 per cent.
Among the miners, BHP Billiton was minus five cents at $33.79, while Rio Tinto had climbed 29 cents to $60.02 and Fortescue Metals was five cents higher at $3.51.
Newcrest Mining rose four cents to $9.85, after re-affirming its full year guidance, despite a 12 per cent fall in its gold production in the September quarter.
As for the banks, the Commonwealth Bank lifted four cents to $77.30, ANZ added six cents to $32.51, National Australia Bank advanced eight cents to $33.52, but Westpac lost 14.5 cents to $33.425.
Telstra gained 2.5 cents to $5.425.
KEY FACTS
At 1020 AEDT on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 14 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 5,333.4 points.
The broader All Ordinaries index was up 13.8 points, or also 0.26 per cent, at 5,321.1 points.
The December share price index futures contract was up five points at 5,311 points, with 8,025 contracts traded.
National turnover was 195 million securities worth $263 million.
