Market rallies, resource exports lift

The Australian stockmarket opened strongly this morning, the S&P/ASX 200 lifting 1.1% on yesterday’s close, to 6167.8 by 11.55 am.

This morning’s buying, which follows a strong performance on US stockmarkets overnight, has already come close to erasing yesterday’s 1.2% loss on the S&P/ASX 200.

And the market will receive more good news today when the West Australian Government announces new figures revealing a 25% surge in the value of resource exports from the state last year.

According to The Australian, the increase lifts the value resource exports from WA last year to $53 billion. The single biggest paycheck comes from iron ore exports, which increased 24% last year to $15.8 billion.

Western Australia has previously been regarded as contributing one-third of Australia’s export income, but these results could lift that share even higher.

However, the booming resources sector did not stop Australia’s current account deficit rising 3% to $15,998 million in the June 2007 quarter, according to new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released today. Much of the increase came from goods and services, with the balance of imports over exports in the goods and services sector declining 7% to $3798 million.