Australia Market trades modestly higher

The Australian share market was modestly higher on Wednesday, 18 December 2019, with gains in oil stocks were almost offset by weakness in the mining and financial sectors. Around late afternoon, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index increased by 13.22 points, or 0.2%, to 6,860.50, while the broader All Ordinaries added 14.90 points, or 0.2%, to 6,965.40.

Shares of banks were under pressure as ASIC said it is taking civil legal action against the bank in the Federal Court. National Australia Bank fell almost 1%, while ANZ Banking and Westpac Banking were down 0.3% each. Commonwealth Bank edged up 0.1%.

QBE Insurance (QBE) was down 1.3% after warning that its North American Crop insurance business has been negatively impacted by bad weather (unusually cold growing season).

Shares in Corporate Travel were up 4.5% to $21.48 and were as high as $21.64, taking the stock back to where it was in late August, when management issued cautious full-year 2019-20 guidance of EBITDA of between $165 million and $175 million.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Westpac Leading Index Signals Weak Growth Momentum - Australia's leading index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity relative to trend three to nine months into the future, fell to -0.81% in November from -0.78% in October, the Westpac reported Wednesday. The index continued to signal weak economic momentum carrying well into 2020. Westpac expect economic growth in 2020 to be stuck at 2.1% which compares with trend growth of 2.75%. The leading index growth rate deteriorated over the last six months to -0.81% in November from -0.17% in June.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar, sensitive to shifts in broader risk appetite, inclined against greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6844, strengthening slightly from a previous low of 0.6835.

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