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Aussie share market lifts on materials surge

Xinhua News,SYDNEY
2020-04-14 09:53

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SYDNEY, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The Australian share market opened higher on Tuesday, as investors returned from a four-day break over the Easter holidays to a surge in the materials sector.

At 11:30 (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 27.40 points or 0.51 percent at 5,414.70, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 31.70 points or 0.58 percent at 5,471.10.

After a brief drop the overall market bounced with firm gains building in materials and information technology. Consumer staples and energy shares were also firmly improved.

The gains were enough to offset losses in financials which weighed heavily early on, along with industrials and consumer discretionaries.

On Tuesday morning the country's second largest bank, Westpac revealed that it was expecting a 1.4 billion Australian dollar (895.8 million U.S. dollar) hit to its first-half earnings.

In a statement to investors the bank cited a 900 million Australian dollar (575,7 million U.S. dollars) penalty it estimated would be imposed by regulators regarding a recent industry-wide crackdown on bad practices.

In the financial space, Australia's big banks were mostly lower with the Commonwealth Bank down (0.49 percent), ANZ down (1.03 percent) and Westpac Bank down (0.88 percent), however National Australia Bank was unchanged (0 percent).

Mining stocks lifted with Rio Tinto up (1.54 percent), BHP up (0.35 percent), Fortescue Metals up (2.16 percent) and goldminer Newcrest up (7.72 percent).

The country's oil and gas producers were mixed with Oil Search down (1.85 percent), Santos down (0.43 percent) and Woodside Petroleum up (1.33 percent).

Australia's largest supermarkets rallied with Coles up (1.44 percent), and Woolworths up (1.85 percent).

Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra sank (0.16 percent), the national carrier Qantas took off (2.53 percent) and biomedical firm CSL edged higher (0.04 percent).
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