Australia Market recovers on bargain hunting, miners lead

The Australian share market closed slight higher on Tuesday, 07 May 2019, as investors chased for bottom fishing following heavy losses in recent sessions and on hopes that the US and China could still strike a trade deal. However, market gave up some of early gains after the Reserve Bank's decision to keep rates on hold for a record 33rd month. Most of ASX sectors inclined, with materials and resources particularly iron ore miners being notable gainers after a court ordered a halt in operations at a Vale mine in Brazil. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index stumbled 52.07 points, or 0.82%, at 6,283.73 points, while the broader All Ordinaries dropped 57.35 points, or 0.89%, at 6,369.85.

Local market fell into a sea of red on Monday on renewed US-China trade war fears. Early Sunday, President Trump tweeted that he would raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% from the current 10%.

 

Materials shares gained, with iron ore miners being notable gainers after a court ordered a halt in operations at a Vale mine in Brazil. Brazilian miner Vale SA said that a court had ordered it to halt operations at its Brucutu iron ore mining complex, reversing a lower court decision that had allowed the mines activities to resume. Shares of major iron ore miners BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals advanced 1.5%, 2.7% and 5.9%, respectively.

Bellamy's (BAL) rebounded 2% after slumping by 7% on Monday as competitor Bubs Australia (BUB) announced a key partnership and a new product range which it expects to hit shelves in three months.

Graincorp (GNC) was down 6.4% after a A$2.38bn takeover offer for the grain handler launched late last year has been withdrawn by Long-Term Asset Partners.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Seasonally adjusted retail spending rose 0.3% to $27.37 billion in March 2019, following a rise of 0.9% in February, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Tuesday.

CURRENCY: The Australian dollar was up against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, after the RBA held the cash rate at 1.5% on Tuesday but hinted a cut was possible if unemployment did not fall at a faster rate. The Australian dollar was quoted at 70.36 US cents, from 69.91 US cents on Monday.

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