Australia Stocks end near 14-month highs

The Australian share market finished session higher on Tuesday, 04 May 2021, after the Reserve Bank of Australia announced its decision to maintain its current policy settings, including keeping the cash rate at 0.1%.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 added 39.06 points, or 0.56%, to 7,067.86. The broader All Ordinaries advanced 36.71 points, or 0.5%, to 7,323.54.

Shares of Treasury Wine Estates were up after announcement it inked a deal with America's second-largest drinks distributor Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) to expand the reach of its wine labels throughout the U.S. market.

Shares in Super Retail Group gained after the outdoors retailing collective reported a 28% rise in total like-for-like sales across the first 44 weeks of the 2021 financial year. Sales also increased 26% from last year.

Shares in Flight centre tumbled after the travel agency revealed that it is on track for an underlying loss of around A$250 million in the second half, despite rising revenues.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Posts A$5.574 Billion Trade Surplus In March- Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$5.574 billion in March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday, following the upwardly revised A$7.595 billion surplus in February (originally A$7.529 billion). Exports were down A$681 million or 2% on month to A$38.274 billion after slipping a downwardly revised 1.3% in the previous month (originally -1%). Imports rose A$1.340 billion or 4% on month to A$32.700 billion after advancing a downwardly revised 4.7% a month earlier (originally 5%).

RBA Leaves Interest Rate Unchanged At Record Low- Australia's policy board headed by Governor Philip Lowe decided to leave its cash rate unchanged at a record low of 0.1%. The central bank retained the target yield on the 3-year Australian government bond at around 0.1% and also maintained the parameters of the Term Funding Facility and the government bond purchase programme. The bank repeated that it will not increase the cash rate until actual inflation is sustainably within the 2 to 3% target range.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.139 following an earlier low of 90.986. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7741, following levels below $0.772 seen yesterday.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News