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Australian shares closed marginally higher on Friday, helped by positive aspects in mining and materials shares at the same time as considerations over rising coronavirus cases saved many buyers on the sidelines.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.4% to six,033.60, recovering some floor after Thursday’s 0.7% drop. For the week, it was up 1.5%.
Australia’s Victoria state reported a document each day enhance in COVID-19 cases whereas New South Wales mentioned it was tightening some restrictions as authorities wrestle to comprise a brand new outbreak.
Helping investor sentiment, the Australian authorities on Thursday mentioned it could inject an additional A$1.5 billion ($1.05 billion) right into a wage subsidy programme because the nationwide unemployment price hit a 22-year peak in June.
“It’s (the market) sitting on a wall of worry right now,” mentioned Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking.
“We have had such a sugar hit from all of the stimulus, we are taking a seat and wondering if we can keep going or start to fall over?”
The European Union will meet later in the day to debate a proposed stimulus to kick-start the COVID-hit financial system.
Mining shares climbed 0.8%, led by a 4.4% rise in Alumina Ltd. South32 Ltd superior 4.2%, whereas Rio Tinto closed 0.6% higher after touching a close to six-month excessive earlier in the day.
Financial shares rose 0.1%, with Westpac Banking Corp ending 0.5% higher and National Australia Bank including 0.2%.
The gold index rose 0.5%, led by a 4.6% leap in Alkane Resources Ltd, whereas Evolution Mining Ltd gained 2.4%
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.7% to 11,584.1.
Restaurant Brands New Zealand Ltd gained 6.4%, whereas Property for Industry Ltd added 4.1%.
This story has been revealed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content. Only the headline has been modified.
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