Australia Market starts 1st trading day of year with a bang

The Australian share market finished session higher in the 2022 first trading session on Tuesday, 04 January 2022, with risk appetite sentiment brightened by record-breaking advance on Wall Street and surge in commodity prices.

The market's reaction to reports of local COVID-19 infections hitting a record high and hospitalisations rising due to the Omicron coronavirus variant was limited due to the Australian government remaining headstrong in its decision to reopen the economy.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 145.12 points, or 1.95%, to 7,589.76. The broader All Ordinaries index added 147.56 points, or 1.9%, to 7,926.77.

All 11 sectors ended higher along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index, with top performing sectors were energy, materials, real estate, financials, and consumer discretionary issues.

The top performing stocks in this index were NOVONIX and PILBARA MINERALS, up 14.47% and 10% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in this index were CHALICE MINING and ST BARBARA, down 7.08% and 3.75% respectively.

Among individual stocks, Lynas Rare Earths shares added 8.5% after the company got environmental approvals last week to build a permanent disposal facility for water-leached purification residue in Malaysia.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Manufacturing Sector Growth Eases In December Amid Supply Constraints- Growth of Australia's manufacturing sector slowed in December, according to the latest IHS Markit PMI data. Demand and output rose at slower rates, as did purchasing activity. However, the rate of job creation was unchanged. Supply constraints persisted, with longer lead times recorded, contributing to higher backlogged orders. Price pressures meanwhile climbed to a record level, though Australian manufacturers continued to hold a positive outlook. The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) posted above the 50.0 no-change mark at 57.7 in December, down from 59.2 in November, to signal an expansion of the Australian manufacturing sector. This marks the nineteenth straight month in which the sector grew, though the rate of growth slowed to a three-month low. While the easing of COVID-19 disruptions continued to support manufacturing sector expansion, both new orders and output growth slowed from recent peaks in November. Supply constraints were reported to have hampered production according to panellists. Foreign demand meanwhile expanded at a faster rate, aided by the easing of COVID-19 restrictions abroad.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was at $0.7207, lower than levels above $0.726 seen yesterday.

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