Australian stocks finished the day higher as resource and financial stocks both recovered from earlier losses. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 10.1 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 4,725 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 10.2 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 4,831.1 points. On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was down two points at 4,712 points, with 24,049 contracts traded. After a shaky start, three of the four major retail banks ended the day on a positive note. Westpac added 10 cents to $22.18, National Australia Bank gained nine cents to $23.76 and Commonwealth rose four cents to $49.93, while ANZ lost nine cents to $23.09. Rio Tinto gained 97 cents, or 1.14 per cent, to $86.04, while BHP Billiton added 13 cents, or 0.29 per cent, to $45.15. After being heavily sold down in previous sessions, Suncorp Group gained 2.12 per, or 18 cents to $8.68. Gold stocks gave up ground after contract prices for the precious metal settled lower at the end of offshore trade. Gold was the worst-performing sector on the local market, falling 1.02 per cent, according to IRESS data. The spot price of gold in Sydney was $1,376.50 per ounce, down $7.07 from Wednesday's local close of $1,383.57. Newcrest Mining fell 1.13 per cent, or 45 cents, to $39.39, while Kingsgate Consolidated was off 14 cents, or 1.13 per cent, at $10.54. Newcrest's Hidden Valley joint venture said it would vigorously defend court action by disgruntled landowners in Papua New Guinea. he Australian dollar sunk bank below parity with the U.S. dollar in Asia trade Thursday as a string of improving data in the U.S. weighed on the pair. Australian bonds also sank, particularly on the long end of the curve, as the U.S. data had investors selling out of safety assets such as bonds. Technical trading hurt the Australian dollar in 2011's first two days of trading after the currency lifted to new post-float highs at the end of last year, with Thursday bringing some justification for the previous move lower and as well as for more declines. Weighing on the Australian dollar against the U.S. dollar was a stronger than expected report on private sector payrolls and service sector growth in the U.S. The Australian dollar traded at $0.9970, down from $1.0025 late Wednesday. Against the Japanese yen, the Australian dollar traded at 83.01 from 82.135.

Source