Sydney, Sept 21, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - Australia's two-day rally will likely come to an end this morning, following a drop in the US and London; however gold miners and oil producers could benefit from rising prices. On Thursday the S&P/ASX200 was up 38 points to a fresh two-month closing high of 6,394; on the future's market the SPI200 is down 22.

Turning to currencies, the Australian dollar is holding firm atop 86 cents this morning, it's up more than two cents from last week; at 8:40 AM the Aussie is buying 86.36 US cents, on the crosses the dollar is buying 99.07 yen, 61.38 Euro cents, and 42.99 British pence.

Making news headlines this morning is Rio Tinto; shares were up 0.89% to $102.70 on the ASX yesterday. Officials at the Rossing uranium mine in Namibia want to extend its life to 2021 and boost its output by 12.5 per cent next year. A feasibility study is already being conducted, though the extension has not yet won the approval of Rio's board. Rio owns close to 70 per cent of the mine which accounts for almost 8 per cent of the world's uranium production. The spot price of uranium hit an all time high in June. Rio Tinto has posted steadily increasing earnings since 2002.

The full report is available at the following video and audio links.

Video Link

http://abnnewswire.net/fnnlnk/PC5BD6F7


Audio Link

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BHP Billiton shares last traded up 1.41% to $41.01. BHP is reportedly in talks with an Indonesian state-owned miner to develop a nickel project on the island of Maluku. Indonesian officials anticipate an agreement will be signed by the end of the year. The area holds large quantities of high-grade nickel ore. BHP had a banner year in 2007.

And briefly, Wesfarmers has begun the syndication process of a $10 billion loan to finance its acquisition of Coles Group. It's the largest single corporate financing ever undertaken in the Australian loan market.

To international markets, US markets shed some of the previous sessions gains as oil prices and the slipping dollar revived inflation concerns; The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 49, the S&P500 lost 10 and the Nasdaq composite eased 12 points.

European shares also slipped following a warning from Deutsche Bank and another slide in Northern Rock; London's FTSE was down 31 points; Paris back pedaled 42, and Frankfurt fell 16.

Asian stocks were all stronger; Hong Kong's Hang Sang advanced 146 points; Tokyo's Nikkei lifted 32, and China's SSE Composite closed 75 points stronger.

Back to the US, gold futures jumped 2 per cent by midday as the dollar sank to an all-time low against the euro. By the days end gold added $10.40 to $739.90 US an ounce for the spot contract on Comex, Silver added 37 cents to $13.47, copper gained 2 cents to $3.59.

And finally, light crude oil for October delivery rose by $1.39 to settle at $83.32 a barrel ending at an all-time high for the fourth session in a row.

Source: Finance News Network © 2007 http://www.finnewsnetwork.com.au

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