Australia Market ends 0.3% up

The Australian share market finished first trading session of the week higher on Monday, 17 January 2022, with consumer stocks leading the charge after a promising update from Wesfarmers, while mining stocks marked its second consecutive close lower after a slump in iron ore and gold prices.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 23.45 points, or 0.32%, to 7,417.31. The broader All Ordinaries index added 22.13 points, or 0.29%, to 7,739.25.

The top performing stocks in this index were PENDAL GROUP and ADBRI, up 7.8% and 7.2% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in this index were PERSEUS MINING and PALADIN ENERGY, down 5.06% and 4% respectively.

Shares in Wesfarmers added 2.6% to finish at $55.38, after releasing an update on its trading status. It expects a net profit of between $1,180m - $1,240m. It also noted a 10.3% reduction in combined Kmart and Target sales for the first half, and expects Kmart's EBT to be between $170m - $180m, and Target's EBT forecast to be between $45m - $53m.

South32 shares finished down 3.1% to close at $4.05 after informing investors of the completion of a pre-feasibility study for the zinc-lead-silver Taylor Deposit located in their Hermosa project.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar rose to $0.7284, after hitting its highest level since November overnight.

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