Market edges up for sixth day in a row

THE Australian share market has eked out a tiny gain to close higher for a sixth straight session despite a mixed performance in the heavyweight banking and mining sectors.

The ASX 200 index was up 2.6 points at 5924.1 points while the All Ordinaries index was up 3.2 points at 5947.6.

OptionsXpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said the market had pushed into the green Thursday said quarterly sales growth at its Coles supermarkets continued to slow, was yesterday 30c, or 0.7 per cent, lower at $43, while Woolworths shed 10c, or 0.4 per cent, to $26.88.

Weak commodity forecasts this week from two big iron ore producers — BHP Billiton and Brazil’s Vale — weighed on some miners.

BHP Billiton was 15c, or 0.6 per cent, lower at $23.72 and spin-off South 32 was down 3c, or 1.1 per cent, at $2.78, but Rio Tinto was up 64c, or 1.1 per cent, at $60.44.

CBA and Westpac dropped slightly, shedding 26c to $87.40 and 8c to $35.06, while National Australia Bank added 12c to $34 and ANZ found 10c to $32.76.

Dairy co-op Murray Goulburn’s listed MG Unit Trust was flat at $1.025 after the competition watchdog launched a Federal Court action alleging it misled farmers about prices it would pay for their milk before a shock cut last year.

Ten Network fell another 9c, or 25 per cent, to 27c after booking a $214.5 million writedown to the value of its TV licence a day earlier.

Tatts Group backtracked 17c, or 3.8 per cent, to $4.30.