Australia Stocks hit highs on stimulus plans from China

The Australian share market finished session higher on Thursday, 20 February 2020, as investors cheered Wall Street's solid lead and optimism that China would take more measures to prop up its economy and to help coronavirus-stricken businesses. On the ASX, every sector except health care and tech stocks were gainers. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index added 17.93 points, or 0.25%, to 7,162.49, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 17.77 points, or 0.25%, to 7,255.17.

Sydney Stocks held gains on tracking gains on Wall Street overnight after the release of minutes from U.S. Federal Reserve's last policy meeting, which showed policymakers were cautiously optimistic about their ability to hold interest rates steady this year while acknowledging new risks caused by the virus outbreak and of tensions in the Middle East. Policy makers emphasized their intention to provide some stability for markets and the economy for a time after cutting rates three times in succession last year.

 

Expectations are also high that China and other central banks around the world will limit the economic damage through injections of cash into markets, lower interest rates and other stimulus measures

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched fresh measures to support local businesses that are struggling because of the coronavirus outbreak. The assistance is one of several steps that Beijing and local Chinese authorities have taken to limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus, which has sickened 75,000 people and claimed more than 2,000 lives.

Lendlease gained 6.7% after the multinational property developer announced it made A$313 million in half-year profit, up from a A$16 million a year ago.

Qantas gained 5.9% after the airline increased its dividend and announced a A$150 million off-market share buy-back after a strong first half.

Coca-Cola Amatil gained 8.6% after lifting its Australian revenue for the first time in seven years.

Fund manager Perpetual rose 11.2% after announcing half-year profit dipped 14% to A$51.6 million.

WiseTech Global dropped 11.8%, on top of Wednesday's 27.3% fall that came after the logistics software company announced the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak would crimp its earnings forecast.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Unemployment Rate Rises To 5.3% In January -Australia jobless rate came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, and was up from 5.1% in December. The Australian economy added 13.500 jobs last month to 12,995,400 people, following the gain of 28,900 jobs in the previous month. Full-time employment increased by 46,200 to 8,882,200 people and part-time employment decreased by 32,700 to 4,113,300 people. Unemployment increased by 31,000 to 725,900 people. The participation rate was 66.1%. Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased by 8.1 million hours to 1,781.8 million hours. The monthly seasonally adjusted underemployment rate increased by 0.3 pts to 8.6%. The monthly underutilization rate increased by 0.5 pts to 13.9%.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar slid to a decade low against greenback after China's central bank cut interest rates. At 1715 AEDT, the Aussie had rebounded somewhat to buying 66.47 US cents - down from 66.91 on Wednesday, and still a level not seen since March 2009.

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