Australian shares closed at a one-month high on Thursday as investors took heart from gains on Wall Street and sought bargains in mining and energy stocks following months of heavy selling. A 3-percent gain on China's mainland stock markets as they resumed trading after a week-long break also helped boost Australian shares. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.2 percent or 12.5 points to 5,210.4, its highest close since September 9 and its fourth consecutive day of gains. The benchmark is still down almost 4 percent so far this year.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.4 percent or 24.3 points to finish the session at 5,625.8. "It appears that we've got a bit of a virtuous circle going," said CMC Markets chief strategist Michael McCarthy. "The calmer market is lifting confidence, which brings buying, and that buying lifts the market and calms (investors), which in turn brings more confidence."
Miners rose as investors sought to buy on the cheap in a sector which has been heavily battered in 2015 as a result of slowing China demand and tumbling commodity prices. BHP Billiton added 3 percent, rival Rio Tinto firmed 1.6 percent and BHP spin-off South32 jumped 6 percent on bouncing commodities prices. Energy companies, which also have followed the oil price lower this year, rebounded. Origin Energy added 3.3 percent, Santos rallied 5 percent and Papua New Guinea-focused take-over target Oil Search nudged up 0.3 percent.
Regional lender Bank of Queensland led financials higher, up nearly 7 percent after reporting a record full year profit. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group gained 1.3 percent after selling its car finance unit to Macquarie Group, which was on a trading halt. Among retailers, No 1 grocer Woolworths was up 1 percent while rival Wesfarmers, owner of Woolworths rival Coles, fell about the same amount. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.3 percent or 18.02 points to 5,568.05, taking its gains to 1.3 percent so far this week.
Comments
Comments are closed.