News from AAP

Miners, energy and US lift Aust stocks

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The Australian share market has closed higher led by strong gains in the energy and mining sectors, with giant BHP Billiton one of the star performers.

A record overnight high on Wall St, surging world oil prices and a lift in base metal prices saw the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index make an early jump and maintain the gains throughout the day to finish 1.16 per cent higher at 5413.3.

BHP Billiton rose 96 cents, or four per cent, to $25.24 amid a general advance for the mining sector.

Fellow miner Rio Tinto gained $1.28 to $58.67, while Fortescue Metals rose 39 cents – a 6.8 per cent lift – to $6.12.

CMC chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said BHP’s move was “remarkable”.

“At the moment we’re in a real sweet spot for those types of companies, in that the Australian dollar has remained below 74 US cents despite that rise in commodities prices,” Mr McCarthy said.

“That really changes the metrics if those sorts of numbers get fed into analysts’ models.”

Energy stocks were also higher, with Woodside Petroleum up 71 cents to $30.50 and Santos rising 15 cents to $4.15

In company news, dairy business A2 Milk surged 14 cents, or seven per cent, to $2.11 after reporting a 96 per cent gain in revenue for the first four months of 2016/17 compared to last year, with online sales in China the main driver.

Logistics software firm WiseTech Global went up 20 cents to $5.80 after confirming to shareholders at its annual general meeting that the company was on track to lift revenues by up to 50 per cent this financial year.

Elsewhere in the market, the major banks were all higher, while Telstra gained two cents to $4.90 and among the major retailers Wesfarmers lifted 69 cents to $41.22 and Woolworths added 41 cents to $23.26.

An earthquake off the coast of Japan and subsequent tsunami warning had no apparent impact on Australian or Asian markets during the session, with Japan’s Nikkei index also gaining on Tuesday.

KEY FACTS:

* At 1640 AEDT on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 62 points, or 1.16 per cent, at 5,413.3 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 61.3 points, or 1.13 per cent, at 5480.6 points.

* The December share price index futures contract was up 64 points at 5,417 points

* National turnover was 2.8 billion securities traded, worth $5.6 billion.