Australia Market climbs to fresh highs

The Australian share market finished session at fresh highs on Tuesday, 14 January 2020, as risk appetite picked up on optimism over a planned signing of the phase one trade deal signing between China and the U.S. later this week. Meanwhile, investor spirits rose further after news that the Beijing was no longer a currency manipulator. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index inclined 58.53 points, or 0.85%, to 6,962.20, breaking above the previous high of 6933.2 hit late last week, while the broader All Ordinaries added by 57.84 points, or 0.82%, to 7,078.

Mining stocks climbed, helped by a bounce in Iron ore prices in the last day, which rose by US$1.25 or 1.3% to US$94.50 a tonne. Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) closed 1.8% higher. BHP and RIO also added more than 1% of gains. Elsewhere in the sector, battery related names such as lithium & graphite producers continued a recent recovery from a period of sustained weakness. Lithium producer Orecobre (ORE) rose 7.4% and graphite miner Syrah (SYR) added 15.5%. Gold miner Resolute Mining (RSG) jumped 4.5% after confirming media reports that it is in talks to sell its Ravenswood gold mine in QLD to private equity firm EMR Capital for roughly A$300 million.

Australia's financial stocks climbed, with three of the big four banks finished higher, led by the Commonwealth which rose 0.8 per cent to A$83.17. Westpac was the exception, falling 0.1 per cent to A$24.57.

Shares in payments group Spltit (SPT) rose by 9.1 % after reporting that as a result of rapid growth, it had deployed half of its interim financing facility with Shaked Partners and announced it has registered with AUSTRAC to provide factoring services to merchants and grow its funded merchant business in Australia.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar, sensitive to shifts in broader risk appetite, rose against the U.S. dollar. The Australian dollar was little changed at around $0.6900.

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