Mining and energy stocks push Australia shares to new highs
06:42, 27 July 2021
Gains in mining and energy shares pushed Australia’s benchmark index to record highs as the ASX index brushes off the country’s recent upswing in COVID-19 cases.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.6% by Tuesday afternoon. The benchmark index scaled to a new all-time high of 7,447.90 points.
The S&P/ASX 300 Metals & Mining Index climbed 2% on Tuesday, helped by a strong quarterly performance from OZ Minerals.
Metals and mining sector lead gains
OZ Minerals was the biggest percentage gainer on the mining index, rising 7.3% to A$23.66 ($17.46) on Tuesday. The gold miner raised its full year total gold production guidance.
Steel manufacturer BlueScope Steel jumped 6.5% to A$24.44 after the company said it expects half-yearly preliminary unaudited underlying earnings before interest and tax to be about A$1.19bn, beating its prior guidance of A$1bn to A$1.08bn.
The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index rose 1.3% on Tuesday as energy services provider Worley rose 4% and Australia’s biggest oil and gas company by market capitalisation, Woodside Petroleum, climbed 1.8%.
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“Big Four” banks rise
Oil Search fell 0.3% to A$3.94 after the oil and gas explorer reported a 4% sequential drop in quarterly production. The company said that it remains on track to deliver full-year production and capex guidance.
Australia’s “Big Four” banks were all in the green on Tuesday with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) leading gains. CBA, which is the largest publicly listed company by market capitalisation on Australia’s benchmark index, rose 1.4% to A$100.55.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell over 2% by Tuesday afternoon as losses in Meituan, Tencent, Alibaba Health Information and Alibaba Group Holdings heavily weighed down the index.
South Korea rises on positive economic news
Markets in South Korea and Japan tracked overnight gains on Wall Street to edge higher on Tuesday.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index rose 0.3% after the country’s economy grew at its fastest year-on-year pace in a decade in the June quarter, helped by rebound in private consumption and the government’s aggressive expenditure.
Semiconductor firm SK hynix fell 0.9% despite reporting a 38% jump in operating profit in the second quarter from a year ago.
Japan up, BTC down
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.4% to 27,953.75 points and the broader TOPIX 500 Index rose 0.6% to 1,503.23 points.
Indonesia’s Jakarta stock exchange index remained unchanged on Tuesday. The Philippines benchmark index swung over 2% from Monday’s loss. Vietnam shares were up over 1% on Tuesday.
Among cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 4.6% to $37,267.31 and ether dropped 7.3% to $2,207.14 on Tuesday.
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