Australian market commenced trading with firm footing, thanks to data showing China's exports grew at a strong pace during March and imports rebounded giving investors heart that China's domestic demand is improving as part of the recovery from the pandemic. China's exports in dollar terms rose by 30.6% in March from one year earlier while imports jumped 38.1% compared to the same time last year.
Among sectors, IT led gains, up 2.2%, while consumer staples also performed strongly, up 0.8%. Utilities, energy and materials weighed down the market, declining 1.2%, 0.7% and 0.6% respectively.
Buy-now-pay-later firm Zip Co jumped 17% following the release of its March quarter update which showed revenue growth of $114.4m, an 80% increase year-on-year.
In economic news, the NAB business confidence index fell from an 11-year high of +17.8 points in February to +15.5 points in March, but the business conditions index lifted to a record high of +25.2 points in March, up from +17.0 points in February. The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating rose by 5.9% - the most in 43 weeksto a 17-month high of 114.1.
CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7613, lower than levels above $0.765 seen in the previous trading week.
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