Australian share market closes slightly higher

The Australian share market closed slightly higher on Wednesday against the gains in the banking and resources sector.

At the close on Wednesday, the S&P ASX/200 index was up 7.9 points, or 0.14 percent, at 5,561.7 and the All Ordinaries was up 6.5 points, or 0.12 percent, at 5,653.6 points.

CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner told Xinhua the Australian exchange was a bit higher but basically flat as there were no broad movements in the market.

"The markets (movements) are now based on individual stocks," said Spooner.

"We did see further buying of the four major banks but today Telstra encountered some profit taking."

He added the broad movements on the Wesfarmers, Blackmores, and Westfield counters after announcing its results on Wednesday had stopped the index from rising further.

At the close, ANZ was up 0.56 percent, the National Australia Bank rose 1.09 percent, Westpac gained 1.12 percent, while the Commonwealth Bank of Australia jumped 0.83 percent.

BHP Billiton rallied at 1.61 percent, rival Rio Tinto advanced 1.57 percent while gold miner Newcrest was 0.04 percent higher.

Oil Search slumped 1.63 percent, Santos climbed 0.44 percent while Woodside Petroleum surged 0.86 percent.

Wesfarmers declined 2.18 percent while rival Woolworths rallied 0.50 percent.

Qantas gained 1.47 percent while telecommunication giant Telstra's tumbled 3.46 percent at Wednesday's close. Enditem