BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto smash records

THE benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was knocking on the door of record highs today, with mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto hitting fresh highs along with Woodside Petroleum on a surging oil price. Resource stocks hit records , with BHP Billiton hitting the $42.88 mark, while Rio Tinto soared to a record high of $106.20. Woodside Petroleum also reached a record, hitting $50.20 on the back of oil prices soaring to $US84 a barrel on Friday. Oil traded above $US80 last week, despite OPEC's decision last week to raise output in November. At 12.03pm AEST, the S&P/ASX200 index was up 54.7 points to 6412.6 and the All Ordinaries jumped 54.4 points to 6425.6. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 52 points higher at 6474 on a volume of 7706 contracts. At 12.05pm, BHP Billiton was up $1.42 to $42.42 and Rio Tinto gained $2.59 to $105.80. The US market gained on Friday, as stocks, particularly those in the banking sector, bathed still in the glow of last week's US rate cut. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 53.49 points to 13,820.19 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 7.00 points to 1525.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 16.93 points to 2671.22. Santos shares edged 13 cents higher to $14.45 at 1208 AEST on news it has begun oil production from the Oyong project in Indonesia, with production expected to be between 8,000 and 10,000 barrels of oil per day. Other energy stocks were mixed, with Woodside Petroleum lifting 92 cents to $50.14 at 1209 AEST and Oil Search dipping seven cents to $4.30. At 12.09pm AEST, all the major banks were higher with National Australia Bank finding 53 cents to $38.02, Commonwealth Bank of Australia gaining 42 cents to $56.06, ANZ putting on 25 cents to $28.65 and Westpac climbing 12 cents to $27.41. At 12.23pm AEST, the retailers were mixed, with Woolworths edging two cents higher to $29.56, Coles lifting eight cents to $15.06, David Jones adding nine cents to $4.99 and Harvey Norman dipping four cents to $5.81. Ahead of an announcement, shares in the world's biggest metal recycler, Sims Group, were placed in a trading halt by the company. Sims shares are listed currently at $32.55. Shares in explosives, chemicals and paint manufacturer Orica jumped $1.13 to $29.03 at 12.07pm AEST after it bought US specialty bolt maker Excel Mining Systems LLC for $US670 million ($775 million). Shares in power retailer AGL Energy were five cents higher to $16.16 despite news it will have to fork out $1.06 billion if it wants to secure full ownership of energy retailer AlintaAGL..