Australia Stocks slightly up on Ukraine summit prospects

The Australian share market finished session slight higher on Monday, 21 February 2022, recouping some of the sharp losses in the previous session, as risk sentiments improved on Ukraine summit prospects after reports that U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed in principle to hold a summit on the Ukraine crisis.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 11.91 points, or 0.16%, to 7,233.63. The broader All Ordinaries index grew by 4.16 points, or 0.06%, to 7,606.99.

The top performing stocks in this index were THE A2 MILK COMPANY LIMITED and AGL ENERGY LIMITED., up 11.13% and 10.61% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in this index were TYRO PAYMENTS and POINTSBET HOLDINGS, down 25.9% and 11.1% respectively.

AGL (AGL) has gained 10.6% after it rejected a bid from Brookfield and Mike Cannon-Brookes (the consortium). This comes after AGL determined that the offer of A$7.50 per share, materially undervalued the company.

Aussie-based hospitality and liquor business Endeavour Group (EDV) has surged 10.3% to $7.18 after recording a 24.8% jump in its online sales, and a 15.6% climb in its profits.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Manufacturing Sector Continues To Expand In February- Australia manufacturing sector continued to expand in February with a manufacturing PMI score of 57.6, the latest survey from Markit Economics showed on Monday. That's up from 55.1 in January, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Firms reported higher demand coupled with an easing of COVID-19 disruptions enabling output to return to growth. The survey also showed that the services PMI jumped to 56.4 in February from 46.6 in January, while the composite PMI improved to 55.9 from 46.7.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was at $0.7217, against an earlier low of $0.7159.

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