United Minerals Corporation Nl

Iron Road Limited (ASX:IRD) is pleased to announce that significant progress has been made at the Gawler Iron Project in South Australia. Planned commencement Company's maiden drilling programme at Gawler remains within Q1 2010.

The Dow index gave up last week's success and slipped back slightly over the weekend. US and European stock markets closed lower on Friday after the latest US corporate results disappointed high hopes and pushed Wall Street back down through the key 10,000 points level.

US stocks climbed to a 2009 new high on Thursday, as the oil prices surge buoyed energy companies. New York crude oil futures rose more than 3 per cent to a one-year high of US$77.58 a barrel after the government said US gasoline reserves fell sharply last week. The financial and IT stocks retreated over mixed economic data and corporate outlook.

Overnight the US stocks closed higher on the positive Alcoa earnings and better-than-expected weekly jobless claims and consumer spending. Investors were also encouraged by the US retailers' first same-store sales gains in more than a year.

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.