rio up 9% in uk, page-44

DJ MARKET TALK: Resources Surge On Short Covering - Trader

0413 GMT [Dow Jones] Resources surging on short covering, says Southern Cross Equities
director Charlie Aitken. BHP (BHP.AU) up 6.5% at A$30.35, hits A$30.38, Rio (RIO.AU) up
9.3% at A$36.44, hits A$36.46, Fortescue (FMG.AU) up 18% at A$2.77, hits A$2.85.
"There's aggressive short covering in the big three," says Aitken. Says
hedge funds are being forced to exit short positions. "There's short covering
on the fact that materials are the most crowded short trade in the world, if the U.S. car
industry survives, steel will tick back up a bit and if Obama spends on infrastructure,
commodity prices will find support. Perhaps the next leg of the resource story isn't
about China, but America." But he's unsure if resources will keep rising in
the short term. "These things have been (rising in) pretty much a straight line for
a few days now." Key resistance levels are A$32.09 on BHP, A$41.00 on RIO, A$2.93 on
FMG, according to Dow Jones technical analysis. (DWR)