Australia shares recover on financial, tech boost
- Healthcare stocks gained as much as 1.2% and eyed their best session in one week, with biotech major CSL Ltd gaining 1.2%.
Australian shares on Thursday recovered slightly from the heavy sell-off in the previous session, with bank and technology stocks leading gains, though a drop in commodity prices weighed on miners and energy sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.3% at 6,952.1 points by 0030 GMT.
The benchmark shed 1.9% on Wednesday, its lowest close in April 7.
IT stocks gained as much as 2.7%, with buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay Ltd rising 3.1% and Appen Ltd surging for a second session after the artificial intelligence company announced restructuring plans.
EML Payments rose 15.4%, and was the top gainer in the benchmark and the tech sub-index, a day after the payments solutions provider tumbled 50% on fears of regulatory curbs on its Irish unit.
Financial stocks also saw gains, with the so-called "Big Four" banks trading in positive territory.
Miners were the biggest losers in the benchmark, dropping 2% to hit a more than two-week low on the back of a drop in Chinese iron ore futures.
Global miners Rio Tinto Ltd and BHP Ltd dropped 1.7% each.
Energy stocks also fell as crude shed $2 on concerns over rising COVID-19 cases in Asia. Oil and gas explorers Santos Ltd and Woodside Petroleum slipped.
Healthcare stocks gained as much as 1.2% and eyed their best session in one week, with biotech major CSL Ltd gaining 1.2%.
Meanwhile, Qantas Airways Ltd jumped 3% to be among top gainers in the index as the Australian carrier laid out more cost-cutting measures in an effort to weather the COVID-19 crisis.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.6% to 12,354.56 points.
Investors turn their attention to the country's budget, due later in the day, where the government is expected to target its spending on tackling issues of rising homelessness and inequality.
Comments
Comments are closed.