Share market closes slightly higher

THE Australian share market recovered some lost ground after the biggest one-day drop in over four months on Monday.

Traders said the slightly stronger performance today followed better than expected trading on United States and European bourses as the market had a change of heart about the political left turn in Europe.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 13.0 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 4314.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 14.3 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 4375.9 points.

On the ASX 24, the June share price index futures contract was nine points higher at 4299 points, with 27,248 contracts traded.

In the US on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 29.74 points, 0.23 per cent, lower at 13,008.68 points, showing little impact from the weekend election results in France and Greece which cast doubt on the path of financial reform across the troubled euro zone.

Most European stock markets closed higher despite the prospects for political and financial turmoil in Greece following its poll.

CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said the Australian market performed a lot better than it did on Monday when results of the elections in Greece and France spooked investors.

"The US and European markets held the line and rallied a little bit (on Monday), leaving us (Australia) in the position of having possibly overshot the concerns over Europe a bit," Mr Spooner said.

"But our performance today (Tuesday) cannot be described as robust."

Mr Spooner said concerns about France may have been misplaced because French president-elect Francois Hollande may turn out to be no worse on economic policy than his predecessor.

However, there was still much uncertainty about Greece, where it was likely that whatever government emerged there would be opposed to austerity measures.

On the local bourse today, construction giant Leighton Holdings was 23 cents lower at $19.02 as it reconfirmed its profit guidance after announcing that the completion of its Brisbane Airport Link would be delayed.

Property Trust Centro Retail Australia was in a trading halt pending an announcement on settlement discussions over its $200 million class action. Centro Retail Australia last traded at $1.8475.

In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was up 11 cents at $34.68 and Rio Tinto was 26 cents higher at $62.26.

Mineral sands miner Iluka dumped $1.94, or 12.16 per cent, to $14.01 after it said it would cut its annual production of zircon in 2012 because the global economic outlook remained unclear.

Steelmaker OneSteel dipped 4.5 cents to $1.18 as shareholders voted in favour of changing the company name to Arrium.

Oil Search was two cents richer at $7.14 after it said 2012 would be a potentially transformational year for the company, presenting an unprecedented opportunity to increase the value of its assets.

Among the major banks, the Commonwealth Bank firmed two cents to $52.08 as it cut interest rates on its one- and three-year fixed home loans by up to 0.34 percentage points.

Westpac was up 11 cents at $22.83, ANZ nudged up one cent to $23.11 and National Australia Bank sagged eight cents to $24.63.

The price of gold in Sydney closed at $US1,631.11 per fine ounce, down $US8.29 from $US1639.40 on Monday.