Australia Market end higher

Australia stock market finished session slightly higher on Thursday, 09 March 2023, following the mostly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with shares in technology, energy, financials, telecom, and retailer issues being notable gainers. However, losses in healthcare and materials issues capped gains.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 3.34 points, or 0.05%, to 7,311.10. The broader All Ordinaries index inclined 10.50 points, or 0.14%, to 7,514.40.

The top performing stocks in the S&P/ASX 200 Index index were XERO and NEW HOPE CORPORATION, up 10.66% and 5.63% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were IMUGENE and PERPETUAL, down 3.7% and 3.37% respectively.

Total 8 of 11 sectors ended higher along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Information Technology was the best performing sector, gaining 2.7%, followed by energy (up 1.37%), telecommunication services (up 0.8%), and consumer discretionary (up 0.7%). Healthcare was worst performing sector, falling 1.5%, followed by materials (down 0.9%).

Shares of technology companies advanced, led by Xero with gains of more than 10%, after the cloud based accounting software company announced a staff reduction of up to 800 employees. The job cuts come as the company, which has heavily expanded over the past years, is facing a deepening downturn in the technology sector. WiseTech climbed 5.6% and Computershare added 0.9%.

Energy stocks were also higher, with Coal miners Yancoal (up 3.6%) and Whitehaven (up 5.6%) leading rally.

Materials sector closed lower, as Fortescue (down 0.4%), Rio Tinto (down 0.3%) and BHP (down 0.3%) weighed on the bourse, as BHP traded for the first time without the rights to its latest dividend.

Among individual stocks: Shares in department store Myer soared after the company said its half-year profit more than doubled and there was more growth to come.

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