Australia Stocks slightly up in cautious trade

The Australian share market finished session slight higher on Thursday, 17 February 2022, on the back of strength in materials and energy stocks after Woodside Petroleum reported strong annual results and firm bullion prices. However, market gains capped on rekindling fears over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine after reported firing of shells in Ukraine.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 11.24 points, or 0.15%, to 7,296.18. The broader All Ordinaries index grew by 1.78 points, or 0.02%, to 7,574.76.

The top performing stocks in this index were IPH and CHALLENGER, up 9.19% and 6.65% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in this index were WESFARMERS and NOVONIX, down 7.48% and 6.33% respectively.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Unemployment Rate Unchanged At 4.2% In January- Australia unemployment rate was a seasonally adjusted 4.2 percent in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, unchanged from the previous month. The Australian economy added 12,900 jobs last month, following the increase of 64,8oo jobs in December. Part-time employment added 30,000, while full-time employment shed 17,000. The participation rate was 66.2 percent, up from the 66.1 percent reading a month earlier.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was at $0.719, off an earlier high of $0.7215.

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