Australia Market climbs on coronavirus treatment, US reopening hopes

The Australian share market rebounded strongly on Friday, 17 April 2020, with all sectors climbing, as risk sentiments underpinned after the President Donald Trump unveiled broad new federal guidelines for the reopening of the U.S. economy and eased some concerns over the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. Investor sentiment also received a boost after a report said that a Gilead Sciences drug, remdesivir, showed promising results in treating COVID-19 patients. Around late afternoon, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index surged 95.72 points, or 1.77%, to 5,512.00. The broader All Ordinaries grew 99.84 points, or 1.83%, to 5,567.40.

US President Donald Trump laid out a strategy to phase out the month-long economic shutdown aimed at stanching the coronavirus pandemic, despite concerns from health experts, governors and business leaders about the dangers of lifting restrictions without widespread testing in place.

 

Another 5.2 million more Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, the Labour Department reported on Thursday, lifting total filings for claims over the past month to more than 20 million.

The market largely shrugged off mixed set of data points on China's economy. China's National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday that the country's economic output shrank 6.8% from January through March compared to the same period last year. Industrial production dropped 8.4% in the first quarter, and marked a 1.1% decline in March. Fixed-asset investment fell 16.1% in the first quarter. Retail sales fell 19% in the first quarter. Sales of consumer goods fell 15.8% in March, while online sales of physical goods rose 5.9%.

Shares of Rio Tinto advanced 3% after the world's largest iron ore miner reported higher first-quarter shipments and said demand in China continued to recover.

Coca-Cola Amatil declined 3% after the soft drinks bottler withdrew its dividend payout forecast. The Board is expected to make a decision on its 2020 dividends together with its 1H20 results on 20 August 2020.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 99.821, slipping back below the 100 barrier. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6358, still off levels above $0.64 seen earlier this week.

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