Sydney, Oct 11, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - The share market finished in positive territory today its fourth straight run. The broader market struggled early but then investors became more bullish buying up stocks like Rio Tinto and Woodside Petroleum all helped by firmer oil and metal prices.

the S&P/ASX 200 Index closed up 34 points to 6772, and on the futures market the SPI 200 closed up 60 points.

In economic news, consumer expectations for inflation have risen to their highest level since 2005. The Melbourne Institute consumer inflationary expectations survey found median inflationary forecasts had climbed to 4.6 per cent in October. Combined with the lowest jobless rate in 33 years, economists now expect the Reserve Bank will raise interest rates again by the end of the year.

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

Video Link

http://abnnewswire.net/fnnlnk/5077770M


Audio Link

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/UF2DTBB1


To company news now, Tattersall's says the Victorian government decision to split the state's lotteries licence won't have a material impact on the company's profits. It comes despite the fact Tattersall's will lose about 15 per cent of its lottery sales. Greek-based gaming company Intralot's entry into the market ends Tattersall's 54 year monopoly of the market. The new arrangement will come into affect from the first of July next year. Shares in Tattersall's closed 0.73% higher at $4.13.

And Monaro Mining is set to merge with fellow uranium explorer Uranium King. The merger will go ahead by way of a scheme of arrangement, and is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. Under the arrangement, Uranium King shareholders will receive five Monaro shares for every seven Uranium King shares. The combined group will have a mix of greenfields, advanced and pre-development projects. The deal is expected to be completed by late January next year. Shares in Monaro Mining closed 2.86% lower at $1.02.

In other news today, shares in Petsec Energy surged today after the company announced it will double its US oil and gas reserves with a $122 million acquisition. The company says it's buying seven onshore and offshore gas fields from privately owned US oil and gas company LLOG Exploration Company.

Lihir Gold rose after Merrill Lynch raised its price target for the gold miner from $3.75 to $4.70 saying the company had strong production growth and attractive valuations.

Newcrest Mining says it's completed the retail component of its $2 billion capital restructure. The capital raising's designed to close out the company's gold hedging contracts, and gain more exposure to the spot gold price.

And Australian-owned seafood supplier Cell Aquaculture says it's now taken full ownership of a Dutch Barramundi facility as part of a push into the European market.

Now to today's best and worst performers, the best performing index today was the Energy index gaining 213 points to 16,108, while the worst performing index was the Health Care index shedding 118 points to 9146.

Sally Malay was the best performer in the S&P/ASX top 200 surging 7.33% to $5.27; Murchison Metals and Aquarius Platinum were also in favour today.

Independence Group was the worst performing stock today shedding 4.04% to $6.42; Consolidated Minerals and Boom Logistics also lost investor support.

Gold is currently trading at $744.90 US an ounce and light crude is 19 cents firmer at $81.49 US a barrel.

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

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