Australian stocks: Metal forecast boosts market

MELBOURNE - The Australian sharemarket closed higher yesterday with the quiet session bolstered by robust metal export forecasts for the year ahead.

Macquarie Equities division director Lucinda Chan said the stronger resources and gold sectors buoyed the otherwise lacklustre market.

December quarter forecasts out yesterday from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (Abare) predicted strong increases in export earnings for copper, alumina, nickel and zinc.

Earnings from coal, increasingly prized by Asia's growing steel making and power generation industries, are forecast to leap 48 per cent to A$16.1 billion.

Export revenue from iron ore, again mostly to Asia, is tipped to grow 35 per cent to A$7.1 billion.

Base metals such as copper and zinc are forecast to bring in earnings of A$5.1 billion, up 23 per cent on the previous year, while oil earnings should rise 34 per cent to A$6.8 billion, Abare said.

The S&P/ASX 200 was up 8.8 points to 3907.3.

"The gold markets are strong, resources are also stronger after the Abare reports giving an indication that (financial 2005) will be very, very strong for the miners," Chan said.

Banks were mixed and there was profit-taking in the retail sector, while solid gains for automotive parts retailer Super Cheap Auto and biotech Metabolic Pharmaceuticals helped to boost the market, Chan said.

Super Cheap gained 17Ac to A$3.18 after announcing a low cost expansion into the camping and outdoor leisure market.

Metabolic rose 8Ac to A$2.04.

BHP Billiton closed up 18Ac at A$14.86. Telstra lifted 2Ac to A$4.88.

News Corp rose 39Ac to A$23.89.

Elsewhere, shares in Fortescue Metals soared 41Ac or 17.6 per cent following the the Federal Government's decision to grant Fortescue's Pilbara project Major Project Facilitation (MPF) status.

 

Global packager Amcor fell 7Ac to A$6.90 as it acquired a stake in a Chinese tobacco packaging group Vision Grande Group Holdings.

And Australia's largest construction and contract mining group, Leighton Holdings, lifted 4Ac to A$11.40.

Leighton said it had secured two new projects in Indonesia totalling around A$93.5 million.

- AAP