Australian shares climb as miners rally

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Australian shares climb as miners rally
from MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Australian shares climbed sharply out of the open on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX 200 index jumping 0.9% to 4,569.50, hitting a new 14-month high. Miners were the clear outperfomers, with the sector up 2.1% as BHP Billiton Ltd. shares climbed 2.5% and Rio Tinto Ltd. rose 2.9%. The advance followed data out in the U.S. indicating that the housing market there continues to improve, as well as fresh optimism over Europe. "Price gains across regions [are feeding] into each other as investors take advantage of attractive valuations and slightly improved outlook for the global economy," said Matthew Sherwood, head of investment market research at Perpetual.