Australia Market climbs to 1-month peak

The Australian share market finished session higher on Thursday, 17 March 2022, as risk appetite buying underpinned on tracking overnight gains on Wall Street following a widely anticipated U.S. interest rate hike and on hopes for Ukrainian-Russian negotiations,

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 advanced by 75.56 points, or 1.05%, to 7,250.80. The broader All Ordinaries index rose 85.83 points, or 1.15%, to 7,521.62.

The top performing stocks in this index were POINTSBET HOLDINGS LIMITED and ZIP CO LIMITED., up 10.32% and 10.14% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in this index were GOLD ROAD RESOURCES and GRAINCORP, down 3.3% and 2.76% respectively.

Market risk sentiments underpinned as investors took in stride the long-expected start of a U.S. monetary tightening. The Federal Reserve increased rates by a quarter points, as expected, and forecast seven rate hikes for the year, in a bid to contain rising price pressures. New talk of compromise from both Moscow and Kyiv on a status for Ukraine outside of NATO lifted hope for a potential breakthrough after three weeks of war, which augured well for investor sentiment.

Among notable gainers, Leisure business Pointsbet Holdings and payments provider Zip Co. both increased more than 10%. Medical devices company Polynovo added 8%. Novonix as well as EML Payments followed with a 7% uptick.

Among notable decliners, Gold Road Resources was the greatest laggard with a more than 3% decline. Food retailing business Graincorp, Domino's Pizza Enterprises, Invocare and telecommunications infrastructure business Chorus lost more than 2%.

Shares of financials advanced with the 'Big Four' banks rising in the range of 1.3% to 1.6%.

Miners rose as iron ore prices jumped in China on hopes of additional stimulus to combat the economic fallout caused by an uptick in COVID-19 cases. Rio Tinto and BHP Group firmed 1.4% and 1%, respectively.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Jobless Rate At 4% In February- Australia jobless rate came in at a seasonally adjusted 4% in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, down from 4.2% in January. The Australian economy added 77,400 jobs last month, following the gain of 12,900 jobs in the previous month. The participation rate came in at 66.4%, up from 66.2% a month earlier.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7327, extending gains after yesterday's jump from below $0.72.

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