(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - Australia) Australian stocks have shrugged off the fall on Wall Street as updates from local blue chips pulled the All Ords up 26 points, or 0.5%, to 5,457.1.
While blue chip stocks made gains, a mineral sands player provided more exciting MARKET ACTION"
U.S. stocks had slipped after the Federal Reserve ended its bond buying stimulus program. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32 points at 16,974 while the Nasdaq fell 15 points to 4,549.
National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) rose 0.76% to $34.64 after reporting a profit of $5.2 billion for the year to 30 September 2014.
Meanwhile, Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) was up 1.3% to $43.92. The company lifted total retail sales across its business by 4.6% in the first quarter of the 2014-15 financial year.
The boost was led by better-than-expected sales at supermarket Coles, which recorded same-store sales growth of 4.3%
Shares in Coca-Cola Amatil (ASX:CCL) rose 4.49% to $9.07 after announcing that it would purchase a 30% stake in Coca Cola's Amatil's Indonesian business for US$500 million and that it would return to profit growth in 2015.
Junior companies provided some excitement
MZI Resources (ASX:MZI) is up 16.67% to $0.007. In September, the mineral sands developer clinched $109 million in funding to take its Keysbrook project in Western Australia straight through to full production.
Keysbrook, located 70 kilometres south of Perth, is characterised by its high leucoxene content, and has the potential to be one of the world's largest producers of the premium Leucoxene 88 product.
It could produce an average 91,000 tonnes per annum of mineral sands products from 110,000 tonnes of dry heavy mineral concentrate.
Offtake agreements are already in place for 50% of the forecast annual revenue from Keysbrook and approximately 60% of forecast annual production.
Hazelwood (ASX:HAZ) is up 3.45% to $0.03 after initiating a four part plan to improve efficiencies at the ATC Ferrotungsten plant in Vietnam as well as look at growth opportunities and accelerating studies on its Australian tungsten projects.
This could see it become a vertically integrated producer.
Shares in Real Energy Corporation (ASX:RLE) rose 1.82% to $0.28 as drilling at the Queenscliff-1 well intersected gas shows.
Results of electric logs to be undertaken after reaching total depth will be highly anticipated.
Further drilling assays have defined two new high grade zones, sending Triton Minerals (ASX:TON) up 4.84% to $0.325.
The new zones and Mutola zone host all the very high grade mineralisation at Nicanda Hill. This positions Triton Minerals to undertake selective and targeted mining operations going forward.
Now for the Blue Chips
Major Banks
ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) up 0.9% to $33.22
Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) up 0.8% to $80.20
Westpac (ASX:WBC) up 0.8% to $34.46
Other banks, financials and industrials
AMP (ASX:AMP) up 1.6% to $5.74
Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) up 1.0% to $12.65
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN) up 1.2% to $12.32
Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) up 0.3% to $59.78
Suncorp (ASX:SUN) up 0.6% to $14.40
Telstra (ASX:TLS) up 0.5% to $5.58
Major miners
BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) down 0.8% to $33.51
Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) flat at $3.45
Newcrest (ASX:NCM) down 1.7% to $9.74
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) down 0.8% to $59.19
Oil and Gas
Oil Search (ASX:OSH) up 1.3% to $8.60
Santos (ASX:STO) up 0.1% to $12.93
Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) up 0.0% to $39.75
Retailers
JB Hi-FI (ASX:JBH) down 2.7% to $15.66
Woolworths (ASX:WOW) up 0.7% to $35.74
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