Resources drive Aussie stocks

PERTH - The Australian sharemarket returned to positive territory with gains from resource giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto driving the bourse higher.

The S&P/ASX200 index closed up 38.3 points to 6363.4. Austock Securities senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the market got off to a strong start following a positive lead from Wall Street overnight.

"It has been a very interesting day on the market. It opened very strongly on the back of positive news out of America and commodities, but it eased right back in the afternoon," Heffernan said.

Engineering and construction group Clough added A2.5c to A49.5c despite expecting to post a loss in the 2006/07 financial year after writing off A$110 million ($121.4 million) in disputed contracts.

- AAP