Australia Market ends modestly higher

The Australian market finished session higher after recovering earlier losses on Wednesday, 24 March 2021, buoyed by healthcare and Tech stocks, as a weaker local currency boosted the export-reliant sector. However, market gains capped amid concerns over the world's recovery from the pandemic.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 added 33.37 points, or 0.49%, to 6,778.77. The broader All Ordinaries rose 27.25 points, or 0.39%, to 7,013.85.

Health care, consumer discretionary and consumer staples were among the best performers, up 1.87%, 1.09% and 1.14% respectively. Energy led declines, down 0.86%.

Healthcare stocks finished broadly higher. CSL rose 1.9% to close at a three-week high, while hearing implant maker Cochlear added 3.7%.

Technology stocks advanced, with buy-now-pay-later company Xero hitting a three-week high after acquiring Swedish e-invoicing firm Tickstar.

Miners ended mostly higher, with Rio Tinto climbing 1.8%, while gold miners Evolution Mining and Newcrest rose about 1%.

Financial stocks also climbed, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia gaining 1.9%. Westpac Banking fell about 1% after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand ordered the bank to conduct independent reviews and hold additional liquid assets due to problems with its risk governance and liquidity risk management.

Energy shares declined after crude oil prices sank overnight. Origin Energy, Beach Energy, Oil Search and Woodside Petroleum fell 1-3%. Santos dropped 1.5% after the oil and gas explorer said it expects to make a final investment decision on its Barossa project in the coming weeks.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Manufacturing Sector Climbs To 57.0 In March- Australia manufacturing sector continued to expand in March, with a manufacturing PMI score of 57.0, the latest survey from Markit Economics showed on Wednesday. That's up from 56.9 in February and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The uptick was supported by quicker increases in factory orders and employment, while production growth eased marginally from February. Australia's services PMI came in at 56.2, up sharply from 53.4 in February, while the composite index had a score of 56.2 - up from 53.7 in the previous month.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7601 after declining yesterday from above $0.768, as investors abandoned bets on higher interest rates domestically, while tighter coronavirus lockdowns in Europe pushed bond yields down globally.

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