Aussie stocks: Market closes higher

The Australian share market closed higher today after starting strongly on a positive lead from United States markets but easing on weaker than expected figures for economic growth in China.

At the 1615 AEST close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 28.2 points, or 0.75 per cent, higher at 3,775.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 31.7 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 3,725.6.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index futures contract was up 35 points at 3,787 on volume of 23,118 contracts, according to preliminary calculations.

CMC Markets market analyst David Taylor said the local bourse had a mixed day.

"The market got off to a nice start following Wall Street's lead but the wind got knocked out of the sails after the China GDP (gross domestic product) figures came through," Mr Taylor said.

"A lot of the miners are obviously exposed to that."

The Chinese government reported on Thursday that the economy had grown by 6.1 per cent in the first quarter. Mr Taylor said the market had been expecting growth of 6.2 per cent.

In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton dumped 33 cents to $33.21.

Rio Tinto lifted 70 cents to $58.05 after hundreds of British shareholders turned out at the company's annual meeting in London overnight to voice concerns about the proposed US$19.5 billion (A$27.1 billion) investment deal with Aluminium Corporation of China (Chinalco).

Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum was eight cents poorer at $38.80 after it said its Browse Basin joint-venture partners had not yet decided whether to use a site north of Broome in Western Australia as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing hub.

Santos firmed 12 cents to $16.90.

Petsec Energy sagged two cents to 24 cents after it announced that quarterly production had halved compared to the same period last year.

Steel maker OneSteel was in a trading halt, having last traded at $2.56. On Thursdsay it downgraded its operating profit guidance and announced plans to raise at least $559 million in new capital.

Mineral sands producer Iluka Resources scraped off one cent to $3.00 after it said total mineral sands sales revenue for the March quarter fell 77.2 per cent compared to the previous corresponding period.

Diversified miner OZ Minerals improved 0.5 cents to 61.5 cents after it described a US$1.2 billion (A$1.64 billion) revised takeover bid by China's Minmetals as "a complete solution" to its debt-refinancing woes.

Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank added 50 cents to $36.76, National Australia Bank stepped forward 16 cents to $21.94, ANZ lost 18 cents to $16.81 and Westpac descended 33 cents to $20.38.

On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose 109.44 points, or 1.38 per cent, to 8,029.62.

- AAP