SYDNEY: Australian shares rallied 0.4 percent to a 20-month high, buoyed by financial stocks and retailers as data showing an unexpected fall in Australian employment in December increased the chances of a further interest rate cut.
Financials lead the index higher, with QBE Insurance up 2.3 percent and insurer and bank Suncorp Group up 1.8 percent. Big banks were firmer, headed by Westpac Banking Corp with a 0.7 percent gain.
The S&P/ASX 200 index finished the day 18.2 points higher as 4,756.6, having risen as much as 1.0 percent at one point, and added to Wednesday's 0.5 percent rise.
"The ASX 200 continued to punch higher after trading through this year's high at 4,750 as the local fourth-quarter earnings season started in earnest," said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG Markets.
"Defensives are mostly leading and we suspect this was a result of investors piling back into yield plays and other defensives ahead of what seems to be a fairly uncertain month for risk."
Defensives finished the day firmer. Blood products maker CSL Ltd gained 0.6 percent, while energy provider AGL Energy rose 0.5 percent.
Retailers also improved on the hopes for a boost to economic activity, with furniture and electrical goods store Harvey Norman jumping 2.6 percent. Supermarket giants Wesfarmers Ltd and Woolworths Ltd jumped 1.4 percent and 1 percent respectively.
Australian employment unexpectedly dipped 5,500 in December while the jobless rate nudged up 5.4 percent, a soft report that led markets to narrow the odds of further rate cuts.
Iron ore miner BHP Billiton Ltd rose 0.3 percent, but rival Rio Tinto bucked the trend, dropping 1.5 percent.
Santos climbed 0.7 percent after it announced a 10 percent lift in annual production to 52.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).
Iluka Resources surged 3.7 percent after announcing fresh steps to cut costs.
Molopo Energy Ltd soared 7.4 percent. The oil and gas exploration and production company announced a new CEO and said details of a strategic review will be announced before the first quarter of 2013.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rallied 0.7 percent, or 27.6 points to 4,196.8, hovering at five-year highs.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.