Strength in the major miners provided some relief to the share market today, even as worries about the impact of the Queensland floods remained.
By the close, the All Ordinaries index added 17 points to 4,832, while the ASX 200 index put on 14 points to 4,724.
It was stronger commodity prices posted in London overnight, that helped lift shares in BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto which were both up 1.3 per cent.
Smaller iron ore miner, Fortescue Metals jumped by 3.5 per cent.
Elsewhere in the sector, coal miners were still under pressure, New Hope finished off 0.4 per cent.
Stocks most exposed to the devastation in Queensland continued to fall.
It was a mixed day for the insurers; Insurance Australia Group lost 2.6 per cent.
Suncorp, which has the largest exposure to the state, clawed back earlier losses to finish 1.2 per cent stronger.
It said its comprehensive reinsurance program would limit the cost of claims for flood damage in Brisbane and areas of south-east Queensland to between $70 million and $90 million.
Fitch Ratings reiterated that and said that the insurers may be reasonably protected from flood claims by catastrophe reinsurance.
Bank of Queensland was sold down by 3.8 per cent.
Refiner Caltex fell 4.7 per cent after saying an unplanned shutdown last week of its refinery in Brisbane, due to an outage caused by heavy rain, would wipe up to $10 million off its bottom line.
The weather also washed away the value of travel companies; Wotif.com lost 3.3 per cent. Virgin Blue lost 3.7 per cent as people cancel flights to one of its most popular domestic destinations.
The Australian dollar was sold down yesterday on expectations the floods will keep interest rates on hold for some time. It held steady today.
At 4:50 pm (AEDT) it was buying around 98.47 US cents.
On the cross rates its worth 75.89 euro cents, 81.85 Japanese yen, 63.01 British pence, $NZ1.2975
West Texas Crude oil shot up to $US91.12 per barrel and spot gold was trading higher at $US1,384.25 an ounce.
Source: www.abc.net.au
