2020-10-09 12:05:00
AUSTRALIA'S SHARES: THE BEST
REUTERS - OCTOBER 9, 2020 - Australian shares posted their best week in six months on Friday, capping an eventful week that saw the government pledge billions to pull the economy out of recession and U.S President Donald Trump send mixed signals on COVID-19 relief measures.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed unchanged at 6,102.2 after flitting between small gains and losses throughout the session. For the week, it added 5.4%.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 climbed 0.4% to 12,280.54, extending gains to an eighth session and posting a record closing high. For the week, the index added 3.9%.
Calling the Australian benchmark’s Friday move a “quiet end to a good week”, Henry Jennings, a senior analyst and portfolio manager at Marcustoday Financial Newsletter, said the market was pausing to consolidate.
“There are too many unknowns out there this weekend, with stimulus and tweets from the White House to take any big bets,” Jennings said.
Helping market sentiment further, Australia reported its second straight day without any COVID-19 deaths, the longest stretch without any fatalities from the virus in three months.
All major sub-indexes posted big gains for the week, with energy .AXEJ emerging as the top winner with a 9% rise after a week-long surge in oil prices.
Heavyweights Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX and Santos STO.AX added about 9.5% each for the week.
Financials .AXFJ posted their best week in more than four months, with the "big four" banks advancing between 6.2% and 10%.
Jennings said banks were still enjoying the afterglow of the budget, with tax cuts announced likely to be beneficial for them.
The central bank’s assertion that banks were strong enough to withstand the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic further assured investors.
Technology stocks .AXIJ posted a weekly gain of 7.8%, while miners .AXMM advanced 5.2%.
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Earlier:
2020, October, 5, 13:15:00
AUSTRALIA'S SHARES UP
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed 2.6% higher at 5,941.6 points, starting the week on a firm note after a 2.9% drop last week.
2020, October, 2, 10:45:00
AUSTRALIA'S ENERGY SECURITY
International institutional investors that are the long-term owners of generation assets in other markets have generally been cautious about acquiring renewable assets in Australia, perceiving the risk/reward balance to be inferior to other investment opportunities.
2020, September, 22, 12:55:00
AUSTRALIA LNG STOP $50 BLN
Woodside, Santos and Oil Search put their expansion plans on ice when oil prices collapsed in March.
2020, September, 17, 16:35:00
AUSTRALIA'S GAS RECOVERY
The Australian government has presented a plan to boost gas supply and reduce energy prices,
2020, September, 17, 16:30:00
AUSTRALIA'S DECARBONIZATION INVESTMENT $1.9 BLN
The Federal Government’s announcement today to invest $1.9 billion to reduce carbon emissions paves the way for large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS)
