At the market close the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 33.70 points or 0.70 percent at 4816.60, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 44.90 points or 0.93 percent at 4854.30.
"The gains faded in the afternoon following the announcement of further social distancing measures from Prime Minister Scott Morrison,in a bid to combat the spread of the corona virus (COVID-19) outbreak," Commsec market analyst James Tao said.
Half of ten sectors were lifted with energy, financials contributed most with the peromance. They both rose 4.53 percent and 3.56 percent each. Communication services, health care and consumer staples all have dropped over 3 percent which led the losses.
In the financial space, Australia's big banks were most higher with the Commonwealth Bank down (1.71 percent), ANZ up (6.80 percent), National Australia Bank up (7.48 percent) and Westpac Bank up (8.53 percent).
Mining stocks mostly dropped with BHP down (1.21 percent) and Fortescue Metals down (5.48 percent), goldminer Newcrest down (2.82 percent), Rio Tinto up (1.84 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers lifted with Oil Search up (15.27 percent), Santos up (12.33 percent) and Woodside Petroleum up (0.57 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets sank with Coles down (2.73 percent), and Woolworths down (6.09 percent).
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra dropped (6.12 percent), the national carrier Qantas jumped (10.28 percent) and biomedical firm CSL plummeted (4.59 percent).
Latest comments