Australia Stocks gain after RBA dovish policy stance reaffirmation

The Australian share market finished session lower on Thursday, 04 February 2021, as investors elected to book some profit off the table after three-days of winning streak. Losses were widespread with all sectors declining at the close of trade. Utilities, property and industrials were among the main underperformers. Heavyweights like materials and financials saw some of the smaller losses.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 declined 59.11 points, or 0.87%, to 6,765.50. The broader All Ordinaries dropped 52.98 points, or 0.75%, to 7,035.88.

Gold stocks lost to hit their lowest since May, after spot gold prices weakened overnight amid a steepening U.S. Treasury yield curve and a jump in equities.

 

Heavyweight miners shrank as Chinese iron ore futures eased on growing shipments from major suppliers and a drop-off in demand from top consumer China ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays.

Origin Energy (ORG) was one of the major stragglers, sliding 6.9%, after the energy provider cut its FY21 underlying earnings (EBITDA) outlook for its Energy Markets business to between A$1 billion and A$1.14 billion, previously between A$1.15 billion and A$1.3 billion. The reasons being continued impacts of COVID-19 on energy demand and key commodity markets and milder summer conditions due to the La Nina weather pattern.

AGL Energy (AGL) was another to suffer heavier losses, down 3.6% after the company expects A$2.69 billion hit to its first half profit results mostly relating to worsening wholesale energy markets. The company still expects FY21 underlying profit forecast to remain unchanged, between A$500 million and A$580 million.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Posts Trade Surplus Of A$6.785 Billion In December- Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$6.785 billion in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, following the downwardly revised A$5.014 billion surplus in November (originally A$5.022 billion). Exports were up 3% on month to A$37.268 billion, following the downwardly revised 2.8% increase in the previous month (originally 3%). Imports slipped 2.0% on month to A$30.483 billion following the downwardly revised 9.3% increase a month earlier.

Australia NAB Business Confidence Rebounds Sharply In Q4- Australia business confidence index rose 22 points to +14 from -8 in the third quarter, suggesting a strong rebound from the large pandemic-related hit to activity in early 2020, survey results from NAB showed on Thursday. Confidence turned positive in all industries and strongest in retail. At the same time, the business conditions index climbed 14 points to 9 in the fourth quarter. The increase in business conditions was driven by an improvement in all three sub-components, with trading conditions and profitability well above average. The employment index remained negative despite recording a solid gain.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7626, still off levels above $0.768 seen last week.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News