Rio Tinto Limited

BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) said today that the two top miners in Australia have scrapped a plan to jointly market ore from a planned Australia joint venture.

US stocks closed mixed overnight as investors took profit ahead of the wave of corporate earnings offset the news of an acquisition in technology sector. Dow index ended slightly lower while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite was up on Cisco's deal to purchase Starent Networks.

Overnight Wall Street extended its gains on Reserve Bank of Australia's unexpected decision to raise the official interest rate. Investors saw the first rate hike in advanced economies since the global financial crisis as a key indication of recovery. The move also pushed commodities higher with gold soaring to a record.

The US market fell into mood swings and closed in the red last week. On Friday, the disappointing sales by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion dragged the technology companies lower. For the week, the Dow index lost 155 points, or 1.58 per cent. This week the market will be tested by crucial data including September non-farm payrolls, final second-quarter gross domestic product and several other big economic reports.

Excellence in Mining & Exploration, Sydney's largest resource sector conference concluded Tuesday night with the National Mining Awards Gala Dinner in the Ballroom of the Sheraton on the Park Hotel, Sydney.

Rio Tinto Ltd. (ASX:RIO) said Tuesday it has entered into an agreement to sell Alcan Composites, part of the Alcan Engineered Products division, to Switzerland's Schweiter Technologies AG (SWF:SWTQ) for a total consideration of US$349 million.

Wall Street Friday climbed to a fresh 2009 high as analysts boosted their growth outlook for the US. The market was inspired after Barclay's Capital raised its forecast for the nation's GDP growth in first three months of next year to five per cent from three per cent. For the week, Dow index posted a gain of 215 points.

Wall Street closed higher overnight on investors' buying in industrial and materials stocks. Meanwhile, the fears of trade dispute between the US and China was offset by the news that a Chinese wealth fund is in talks to take over a minority stake in the US power plant AES.

Wall Street closed in negative territory on Friday despite a survey showed that US consumer sentiment rose to its strongest level in three months. But the Dow still surged 164 points, or 1.74 per cent, with four days rally in the week.

Wall Street made a third consecutive day gain overnight as some latest economic data shows that the recession is bottoming out. Financials were also buoyed after Insurance giant American International Group said it expects to repay the government.