PEAK ASSET: ARVO WRAP 8 January: ASX gains as tech and health stocks jump | Oil briefly traded below $US60 a barrel | Hydrix secures $2.5m deal to collaborate on development of SynCardia’s total artificial heart technology |

Diamond drilling by Tambourah Metals (ASX:TMB) at its namesake project in WA’s Pilbara region has returned bonanza-grade gold results and point to the Tambourah King prospect having strong potential to develop an initial resource estimate.

To read more, click here

Across Markets…

Australian shares rose on Thursday as sharp gains in technology and health stocks offset losses from a mixed session on Wall Street amid profit-taking after a fast start to the year for the S&P 500.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.3 per cent, or 25.2 points, to 8720.8 at the closing bell, with 10 of the 11 sectors in the green. Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 was modestly lower in the final hour of the session despite resetting its record high earlier in the day.

The All Ordinaries rose by a similar amount.

On the ASX, the information technology sector was the best performing, climbing 1.7 per cent. WiseTech added 2.2 per cent to $68.28, Xero rose 0.7 per cent to $109.36 and TechnologyOne firmed 1.5 per cent to $27.60.

Healthcare stocks also recorded gains, with blood plasma giant CSL up 2.6 per cent to $174.45, Resmed adding 1.6 per cent to $37.10 and Ramsay Healthcare rising 2.2 per cent to $35.68.

In commodities, oil briefly traded below $US60 a barrel on the prospect of increased Venezuelan crude sales after US forces seized two more sanctioned tankers and said it was already marketing some of the country’s supply. Locally listed energy stocks Ampol and Beach Energy recorded losses of 0.9 per cent to $30.21 and 1.4 per cent to $1.07, respectively.

Elsewhere, gold and silver fell, dragging the wider materials sector lower. Gold miner Capricorn Metals dropped 5.8 per cent to $13.98 and St Barbara lost 3.4 per cent to 57¢. BHP, a mining giant with silver exposure, was off 0.8 per cent to $47.34.

Broker Goldman Sachs said investors should position for more volatility, paritcularly with silver. Swings in the price of silver were “likely” to persist, and volatility-averse investors should remain cautious, Goldman Sachs commodity strategists Lina Thomas and Daan Struyven wrote in a note.

“As long as silver remains dislocated in the US and liquidity in London is not restored with silver from elsewhere, prices could rise even further if investor enthusiasm persists,” they wrote.

In contrast, iron ore futures traded near $US109 a tonne in Singapore on hopes for more easing by China’s central bank to bolster the economy. Despite the rally, the mining giants were little changed.

Source: AFR