Fortescue however said today that it is not aware of any information that may account for recent gains in the share price. The remark was in response to a query from the exchange.

Fortescue, which is due to start output in May, is building a $2.7 billion iron-ore operation in Western Australia. The company plans to quadruple output from the project from the initial 45 million tons. The stock added 8.9%, giving it a value of $19.9 billion ($17.4 billion.)

Rio Tinto chairman Paul Skinner informed shareholders that he is pleased that a deadline has been set for BHP Billiton to set the timetable for the proposed merger offer. In his letters to shareholders today, Skinner highlighted the group''s growth outlook and reiterated the board''s rejection of BHP Billiton''s $149 billion ($130 billion) proposal.

The UK Takeover Panel last week set a deadline of February 6th for BHP Billton to announce its intention to make a firm and formal offer for Rio Tinto or drop the offer. If BHP does not meet the deadline, it will be prohibited from making any offer for six months after February 6, unless it has the consent of the UK Takeover Panel.

BHP Billiton has unsuccessfully conducted talks with Rio Tinto for its merger plan of three BHP shares for one Rio Tinto stock.

The dollar closed stronger today as poor news on US home prices weighed down the American currency. At the close the dollar was trading at Australian $0.8764/69, up from Monday''s close of $0.8691/96.

Of the ASX 200 index shares, Compass Resource led the gainers with a rise of 8.2% followed by increases in Fortescue metals of 8.1%, in Coeut D''Alen of 7.8%, in Nexus Energy of 7.8%, and in Mincor Resources of 6.4% .

Of the ASX 200 index stocks Valad Property led the decliners with a fall of 6.5% followed by losses in DB Trust of 5.3%, Centro Reatil Group of 4.2%, in Envestra Limited of 4.1%, and 2.8% in Emeco Holdings of 2.8%.

In the energy sector was mixed. Woodside added 4%, Santos increased 3.7% and Oil Search gained 1.1%.

The gold miners were up with Newcrest adding 2.9% and Lihir putting on 2.1%.

The banking sector was mixed, with ANZ gaining 0.5%, the National Australia Bank putting on 0.5%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia up 0.7% and Westpac shed 0.3%.

The retailers were mixed, with David Jones adding 1.1% and Harvey Norman adding 0.9%, Wesfarmers down 0.5%, Woolworths shed 0.6%.

The media sector was also mixed, with Fairfax adding 0.9%, News Corp losing 0.1% and its non-voting scrip was down eleven cents to $23.96. Fairfax rose four cents to $4.69. Consolidated Media Holdings added 0.2% and Crown shed 0.2%.