Australia Market extends gains, banks lead

Headline indices of the Australian financial market were modest higher on penultimate session of 2018, Friday, 28 December 2018, after Wall Street ended volatile trade in the green, adding to the massive gains of the previous session. Market gains were, however, limited amid fears of a monetary policy mistake by the Federal Reserve, an ongoing government shutdown in Washington and potential signals the global economy may be slowing down. Investors are also watching developments on the trade front as China and the U.S. try to strike a deal on trade and the clock ticks down on the two nations' tariff ceasefire. ASX sectors were mostly higher, with shares in banks and insurers being notable gainers. In late afternoon trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index added 26.40 points, or 0.47%, to 5,623.60 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index grew 23.90 points, or 0.42%, to 5,686 points.

Shares of financials were higher, with National Australia Bank leading the sector, up 1.7%. ANZ was up 1.2% and Macquarie Bank rose 1.7%. Among insurers, Suncorp leapt 1.5%, while QBE was up 0.3% and IAG gained 1.2%.

 

Shares of materials sector were mixed. BHP dropped 0.26%, while South32 rose 0.2%. Rio Tinto inched 0.1% lower after the company announced it had deployed its automated heavy-haul trains at its iron ore operations in Western Australia, but added it does not expect to cut jobs in 2019 as a result of the project.

Shares of energy stocks were mixed. Woodside Petroleum fell 0.4%, while Oil Search added 0.4% and Santos rose more than 1%.

CURRENCY: Australian Dollar edged down against greenback on Friday. The Australian dollar was quoted at $0.7033, down from $0.7055 on Thursday.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS: U.S. stocks roared back to end in positive territory on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 1.1%, after suffering steep losses for much of the session. The gains come a day after Wall Street indexes posted their biggest daily%age increases in nearly a decade following a sharp plunge at the week's start. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 260.37 points or 1.1% at 23,138.82. The Nasdaq rose 25.14 points or 0.4% to 6,579.49 and the S&P 500 advanced 21.13 points or 0.9% to 2,488.83.

The major European markets closed lower on Thursday. The German DAX Index plunged by 2.4%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.5% and the French CAC 40 Index dropped by 0.6%.

Crude oil prices remained choppy, with U.S. crude futures up 1.77% at $45.4 per barrel after sliding 3.5% the previous day. U.S. crude had rallied 8% midweek after dropping to a 1-1/2-year low of $42.36 at the week's start. Crude has lost more than a third of its value since the beginning of October and is heading for declines of more than 20% in 2018.In addition to supply concerns, worries about slowing global economic growth have dampened investor demand for riskier asset classes and pressured crude.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News