Australia Market ends higher; Materials lead

Australia stock market finished volatile session modestly higher on Thursday, 19 January 2023, on easing the Reserve Bank's case for further rate rises as jobs data came in softer than expected. Meanwhile, sentiments underpinned further on the back of strong showing from mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto after both reported solid iron ore production figures for the December quarter.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 41.95 points, or 0.57%, to 7,435.31. The broader All Ordinaries index added 38.85 points, or 0.51%, to 7,648.39.

Total 8 of 11 sectors ended higher along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Materials was the best performing sector, gaining 1.02%, while information technology was worst performing sector, erasing 0.85%.

The top performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were NANOSONICS and VIVA ENERGY GROUP, up 8.02% and 4.74% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were NETWEALTH GROUP and NOVONIX, down 9.19% and 7.27% respectively.

Shares of materials and resources was top performing in the ASX industry categories, as lithium chemicals company Allkem and Rio Tinto added 3.3% and 3.2%, respectively. Market heavyweight BHP was up 1.5% as it maintained its production forecasts and announced record iron ore production in Western Australia.

Shares of oil and gas company Santos was down 1.6% despite record annual revenue after it cut its production forecast for 2023 to between 89 million and 96 million barrels of oil equivalent, down from its 2022 production of 103.2 million barrels.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that employment unexpectedly fell in December and the jobless rate held unchanged at 3.5%. "The seasonally adjusted participation rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 66.6% in December, back to around where it was in October.

Australia Inflation Expectations Rise In January- Australia's inflation expectations increased in January, the Survey of Consumer Inflationary and Wage Expectations from the Melbourne Institute showed. The expected inflation rate rose to 5.6% in January from 5.2% in December. Over the last three months, trimmed mean inflation expectations averaged 5.6%, which was well below the 2022 peak of 6.7% in June. Total pay is forecast to increase 1.1% over the coming twelve months. The survey suggested that wage expectations increased in January but there is little evidence of any persistent rise in beliefs about future wage growth.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News