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Australian share market makes healthy gains with help from the major banks

A rally among the major banks helped the share market to a healthy gain today.

The All Ordinaries closed 0.8 per cent higher at 5,442 and the ASX 200 added almost 0.9 per cent to finish at 5,459.

Bank reporting season, which kicks off on Thursday with NAB's results, could hold some disappointment for investors used to record profits and dividends, but it did not stop the market pushing up stocks today.

NAB gained 0.75 per cent, CBA rose 1.6 per cent, while Westpac and ANZ added 1 per cent.

A few minutes before the close of trade, ANZ went into a trading halt pending an announcement.

It announced it accidentally released some data last week about its upcoming results this Friday.

It said the information is not material and remains within disclosure rules.

It is expected to resume trading tomorrow.

BHP Billiton was one of the few resource stocks to rise, gaining 0.2 per cent, while Rio Tinto lost nearly 0.5 per cent and Fortescue dropped 3.5 per cent.

Elsewhere on the market, pharmaceutical company CSL announced it will buy Novartis' influenza vaccine business for $312 million.

Chatter about the Medibank Private float hotted up today ahead of the commencement of the retail offer.

Ordinary investors will be able to register for shares in the float tomorrow.

The deal has been under fire from some analysts, who have said retail investors are being treated like cannon fodder for institutions buying in.

The Government has said prospective buyers should have a good read of the prospectus before making an application.

Turning to the currency market, the Australian dollar saw steady trade today and is now worth 88.1 US cents.

Spot gold was steady at $US1,230 an ounce.

Oil prices were largely unchanged from Friday. Tapis crude is now $US89.20 per barrel while West Texas crude is at $US81.10.

Despite the sharp fall in global oil prices, local fuel costs are still not falling.

Figures from the Australian Institute of Petroleum and Commsec show the average price of petrol rose by 0.6 cents per litre to 149.6 cents a litre last week.

But Commsec said prices are set to fall with the Australian wholesale price at a 17-month low of 130.6 cents per litre.