Australia ASX200 falls as virus cases resurge

The Australian share market finished session slight lower on Monday, 21 December 2020, as investors weighed the impact of spreading Covid-19 infections on the economy against the positive effects of new US stimulus.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 declined 5.58 points, or 0.08%, to 6,669.89. The broader All Ordinaries dropped 4.04 points, or 0.06%, to 6,920.06.

Projections of the Australian economy recovering from its first recession in three decades faster than previously anticipated were dismantled after a growing number of infections in Sydney's northern beachside suburbs has prompted other states and territories to seal off borders with the New South Wales' capital city. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) sent a stern "do not come to us" message to Sydney, warning its residents they would be quarantined for 14 days if they arrived. The states of Victoria, Queensland, and the Northern Territory banned people arriving from Sydney as of Monday.

Energy stocks suffered a drop as oil prices weakened amid concerns over the new Covid-19 strain in the UK. Woodside Petroleum fell 2.8%, while Origin Energy gave up 1.6%.

AGL Energy closed 5.1% lower, after the country's top power producer slashed its full-year outlook following a transformer incident that led to an outage at its coal-fired Liddell power plant.

Miners, however, climbed, buoyed by a jump in iron ore prices, with Fortescue Metals Group and BHP Group climbing 5% and 1.2%, respectively.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7552, having risen from levels below $0.752 last week.

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