The Australian market traded flat in the morning, but rose late in the afternoon. The All Ords advanced 28 points Thursday.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 29 points up. Most sectors rose except for Consumer Discretionary, Telecommunication and Healthcare. The Material  sector advanced, led by BHP (+$0.40) and Rio Tinto (+$1.54). The Financial sector was another key performer, buoyed by Commonwealth Bank (+$0.47), Westpac (+$0.25), National Australia Bank (+$0.39) and ANZ (+$0.19). Energy stocks were on the rise, with gains in Woodside Petroleum (+$0.68), Worley Parsons (+$0.11) and Santos (+$0.06). A retreat in Healthcare stocks limited the market’s gains, with decliners including CSL (-$0.50) and Sonic Healthcare (-$0.06). Consumer Staples also underperformed on selling in Woolworths (-$0.61), Wesfarmers (-$0.40) and Foster’s Group (-$0.05).

Alesco (+$0.10) reported 1H10 NPAT of $9.7M, down 23% on 1H09. EBITA of $30.2M from continuing operations was down 29% but in line with guidance provided in December 2009. Newcrest Mining (-$0.17) released its 4Q09 production report. Gold production rose 16% YoY to ~442,000oz. The main contributors were Telfer and Gosowong. Macquarie Office (unchanged) announced the results of asset revaluations as at 31 December 2009. The value of its portfolio has decreased 3.75% to $4.19 billion, with declines in the individual markets of AUS -1.47%, US -5.58%, EUR -4.91% and JAP -5.28%. Oil Search (-$0.06) released its 4Q09 report, which showed a strong production performance with new wells providing a much needed boost to output. Also, with improved sales volumes, the company made up lost ground from prior quarters due to shipment timings.