Australia Market recovers; banks, resources lead

The Australia stock market inclined on Tuesday, 14 August 2018, despite the negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as risk sentiments improved on calming worries about Turkey economy after the country's central bank took measures to boost liquidity in the foreign exchange market. Market gains were, however, limited after China's retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment rose less than expected in July. Among ASX sub-indexes, energy, financials, properties, materials, consumer discretionary, industrials, and information technology sectors were notable gainers, while healthcare technology issue was losers. Around late afternoon, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 47.13 points, or 0.75%, to 6,299.30. The broader All Ordinaries Index inclined 44.65 points, or 0.7%, to 6,385.90.

Shares of banks and financials were higher. Among top four banks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ Bank, Westpac, and National Australia Bank were up in a range of 0.5% to 2%. ANZ Banking said that its impaired assets fell 36% in the third quarter on stricter credit controls, but did not disclose profit or revenue figures in its quarterly update.

Shares of material and resources companies were also higher, thanks to jump in jump in Dalian iron ore futures. Among miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, and Fortescue Metals inclined in a range of 0.5-2%. Bucking the sector trend, gold miners slipped as prices of the precious metal sank below $US1,200 per ounce on Monday to their lowest since late January 2017.

Among individual stocks: shares of Challenger fell as much as 8% after Bionic-ear maker Cochlear and investment management firm posted a 10% rise in its net profit, but missed market expectations. Cochlear also forecast an 8 to 12% increase in net profit for the new financial year.

Challenger slumped as much as 9.5%, after reporting an 18.9% decline in annual profit.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was tad lower against greenback and other major currencies. The Australia dollar was quoted at US$0.7273, down from US$0.7281 on Monday.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed down on Monday, due to lingering concerns about the Turkish economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 125.44 points or 0.5% to 25,187.70, the Nasdaq fell 19.40 points or 0.3% to 7,819.71 and the S&P 500 dropped 11.35 points or 0.4% to 2,821.93.

The major European markets also closed down on Monday. The French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3% and the German DAX Index dropped by 0.5%.

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