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Australian equities

finish firmer

SYDNEY: The Australian share market closed firmer after good buying interest from both domestic and offshore investors and despite a futures fall later in the day.

The All Ordinaries index was 4.50 points higher at 2117.30.

The September share index contract, though, was 15.0 points lower at 2125, a 7.7 point premium to the physical market.

Brokers said good buying interest, particularly in the morning session, meant the market finished firmer despite confusing signals from offshore and the fact that futures fell late in the day.

"There has been some good buying out there and that has kept our market positive despite weakening this afternoon," said Scott Dolling of Day Cutten.

"This afternoon's weakening was more the result of lethargy ahead of the weekend rather than any fundamental deterioration of the market," he said.

The slippage in the afternoon was expected by many players.

"We've had a pretty good run the last couple of days and it was no surprise to see us lose some ground ahead of the weekend," said a Sydney broker.

Industrial sector performers included Mayne Nickless, following Thursday's profit announcement, and finance group AIDC Ltd, which was up sharply after the government announced a share buy back this morning.

Both local and offshore support kept resource majors strong across the board with Renison Goldfields a feature following Thursday's profit announcement.-Reuter