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The local sharemarket rebounded from yesterday’s trough as easing COVID-19 restrictions worked with bargain hunters to push all sectors up.
The Nasdaq index tacked on over 200 points overnight, once more spurring hopes that the tech correction has run its course. At the same time, most major European indexes fared far better than yesterday after investors recovered from the initial shock of renewed coronavirus woes.
Overnight, the Footsie 100 and Germany’s DAX index each climbed just over 0.4 per cent.
Down under, our ASX 200 index surged 2.42 per cent higher to take back almost all of the ground lost in the four-session sell-off streak. The index closed at 5923.9 points.
It seems investors were waiting for the first sign of good news to buy the dip today, and the reopening of some local borders amid falling COVID-19 numbers seems to have done the trick.
All 11 sectors closed a healthy shade of green, though the industrials sector flexed the biggest win. Travel stocks rallied at the idea of open borders, with Qantas up 4.51 per cent, Sydney Airport up 4.88 per cent, and Auckland Airport up 3.11 per cent. Toll-road operator Transurban Group gained 4.94 per cent.
Health care stocks soared today, with biotech big-cap CSL climbing 3.79 per cent to a four-week high. Cochlear gained 4.23 per cent, Ramsay Health Care gained 3.27 per cent, and Sonic Healthcare gained 1.89 per cent.
The thought of COVID-induced restrictions beginning to lift sent our consumer stocks higher, too. Woolworths led the supermarket giants and put on 3.8 per cent. Coles gained 2.14 per cent and Metcash gained 3.12 per cent. A2 Milk gained 3.78 per cent, while on the discretionary side, Wesfarmers gained 2.93 per cent and Domino’s Pizza gained 3.52 per cent.
The financials sector closed a neat 2.18 per cent higher as our big four all rose. NAB took the cake today with a 2.88 per cent increase, while Westpac gained 2.12 per cent, ANZ gained 2.37 per cent, and Commonwealth Bank gained 1.9 per cent.
Materials stocks brought in the smallest gains today, though the sector still closed 1.1 per cent higher. BHP gained 1.31 per cent, Fortescue gained 0.69 per cent, and Rio Tinto gained 0.52 per cent.
Our gold stocks let the sector down, with Newcrest the only one of the top 10 gold miners by market cap to close green. Northern Star lost 2.09 per cent, Evolution lost 0.68 per cent, and St Barabara lost 1.3 per cent. Saracen closed grey.
It’s mostly green across the Pacific today, though major Asian markets are keeping their wins modest. The Asia Dow is currently up by 0.14 per cent, the Hang Seng by 0.16 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite by 0.42 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is dancing around the grey line.
The Australian dollar retreated today, currently buying 71.26 US cents, 56.16 pence, and 12.02 South African Rand.
Today’s ups and downs
Canadian resource developer Euro Manganese (ASX:EMN) surged ahead today after bolstering its board and management team with three new additions. The company appointed Primus Power CEO and Co-founder Tom Stepien as a Director and made two in-house promotions. It seems the ASX was wary the news wasn’t enough to justify EMN’s 40.74 per cent rise, and the company entered a trading halt after being issued a speeding ticket in the final two hours of trade. EMN shares closed worth 19 cents each.
Shareholders couldn’t wait to dump energy company Boutny Oil & Gas (ASX:BUY) today after the company revealed a heavily-discounted placement in an aftermarket announcement yesterday. The company raised just under $1.5 million by issuing 143 million shares at one cent each — a discount of more than 60 per cent on yesterday’s closing price. Today, shares slumped 22.22 per cent to 2.1 cents each.
