Australia Market extends gain on Thursday

The Australian share market finished higher for second day in row on Thursday, 22 July 2021, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with all sectors contributed to gains, led by energy and materials stocks.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 advanced 77.69 points, or 1.06%, to 7,386.41. The broader All Ordinaries increased 78.05 points, or 1.03%, to 7,658.90.

Shares of materials were an important driver of the market today after a number releasing quarterly reports. Lithium miners Galaxy Resources (GXY) and Orocobre (ORE) stood out, with ORE jumping 9.9% on its quarterly report showing uplift in lithium ore prices and improved production numbers at its Olaroz facility in Argentina. GXY gained 9.5%, also on a strong update. BHP Group climbed 3.1% after the world's largest miner struck a nickel supply deal with U.S. electric carmaker Tesla. Rio Tinto added 1.2%, while Iluka Resources spiked 7.2%. Gold miner Northern Star Resources soared 5.4% after it signed a deal to sell its Kundana assets to Evolution Mining.

Energy stocks such as Woodside Petroleum and Origin Energy rose about 3% after oil prices rose more than 4% on Wednesday to extend gains from the previous session. Shares of Santos gained 2.6% after the company saw record June quarter sales of US$1.1b and record first half sales revenue of over US$2b on strong performance and improved commodity prices.

Rare earths miner Lynas (LYC) finished 9% higher after announcing it received a $14.8m grant from the Australian Government for its Modern Manufacturing Initiative. The grant will enable LYC to commercialise an industry-first Rare Earth carbonate refining process.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7365, still above levels below $0.732 seen yesterday.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News