AGL 38.20 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (0.55%)
AIRLINK 211.50 Decreased By ▼ -4.03 (-1.87%)
BOP 9.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.32 (-3.27%)
CNERGY 6.52 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-3.98%)
DCL 9.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-1.85%)
DFML 38.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.73 (-1.87%)
DGKC 96.86 Decreased By ▼ -3.39 (-3.38%)
FCCL 36.55 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-0.41%)
FFBL 88.94 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FFL 14.98 Increased By ▲ 0.49 (3.38%)
HUBC 131.00 Decreased By ▼ -3.13 (-2.33%)
HUMNL 13.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.19 (-1.39%)
KEL 5.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-3.16%)
KOSM 6.87 Decreased By ▼ -0.45 (-6.15%)
MLCF 44.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.97 (-2.11%)
NBP 59.34 Decreased By ▼ -1.94 (-3.17%)
OGDC 230.00 Decreased By ▼ -2.59 (-1.11%)
PAEL 39.20 Decreased By ▼ -1.53 (-3.76%)
PIBTL 8.38 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-2.33%)
PPL 200.00 Decreased By ▼ -3.34 (-1.64%)
PRL 39.10 Decreased By ▼ -1.71 (-4.19%)
PTC 27.00 Decreased By ▼ -1.31 (-4.63%)
SEARL 103.32 Decreased By ▼ -5.19 (-4.78%)
TELE 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.34 (-3.89%)
TOMCL 35.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.48 (-1.34%)
TPLP 13.46 Decreased By ▼ -0.38 (-2.75%)
TREET 25.30 Increased By ▲ 0.92 (3.77%)
TRG 64.50 Increased By ▲ 3.35 (5.48%)
UNITY 34.90 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.17%)
WTL 1.77 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (2.91%)
BR100 12,110 Decreased By -137 (-1.12%)
BR30 37,723 Decreased By -662.1 (-1.72%)
KSE100 112,415 Decreased By -1509.6 (-1.33%)
KSE30 35,508 Decreased By -535.7 (-1.49%)
Markets

Australia shares close higher on Fed pledge, tech stocks shine

  • The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.74pc higher at 6,051.1, snapping two straight sessions of falls.
Published July 30, 2020

Australian shares closed higher on Thursday as investors cheered the Federal Reserve's assertion it would use its "full range of tools" to support the virus-stricken US economy, with added lift from tech stocks ahead of a batch of key US earnings.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.74pc higher at 6,051.1, snapping two straight sessions of falls.

Fed policymakers reiterated a pledge to keep interest rates near-zero for as long as it takes to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, but warned that the "path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus".

"The fact that the US Federal Reserve had some pretty dovish comments gave investors a bit of confidence that there is going to be that support, even though we continue to see large cases of COVID in Australia," said James Tao, a market analyst at Commsec.

Australia reported a record spike in fresh COVID-19 cases with at least 13 deaths and more than 700 new infections mainly in Victoria state.

"We've got US futures trading lower at the moment, so we could see US markets giving back some recent gains... it will probably lead to a softer start to Aussie shares tomorrow," Tao said.

However, he said "it was one of those situations where you can't look too far ahead with much certainty."

Most major sub-indexes closed higher, with gold stocks the sole drag after bullion prices eased.

Tech stocks led the charge with a gain of 2.4pc, marking their best session in more than a week, after Facebook, Apple and Alphabet's Google closed higher overnight ahead of their earnings.

Among top gainers, Afterpay Ltd and WiseTech Global rose 1.6pc and 5.9pc, respectively.
Energy stocks closed 1pc higher, helped by heavyweights Woodside Petroleum and Santos Ltd.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index climbed 0.8pc to 11,692.02, with top gainers Mainfreight Ltd and A2 Milk Co rising nearly 3pc each.

Comments

Comments are closed.