PERTH: The Australian sharemarket has bounced back from yesterday’s seven-month low, with energy and bank stocks recovering recent losses on the back of oil price resilience and a Commonwealth Bank price recovery.
At the official 4.15 (AEST) close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 had risen 77.1 points, or 1.45 per cent, to 5380.2, while the broader All Ordinaries had improved 70.4 points, or 1.33 per cent, to 5379.8.
IG market analyst Angus Nicholson said after copping a “hammering” in recent sessions, energy stock gains had led the surge as China’s stock market falls failed to drag the overnight oil price to new lows.
“The banks have also had a much better day, up 1.9 per cent (prior to close), after CBA saw a massive decline in its stock price after it went ex-dividend yesterday,” he said.
Elsewhere, Mr Nicholson said investors were presented with a mix bag from corporate earnings, with Woodside Petroleum’s steep fall in first-half profit “above expectations”, Treasury Wine Estates’ return to black a “strong earnings beat” and Seek’s outlook disappointing despite a profit lift “largely in line with estimates.”
In local economic news on Wednesday, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Index of Economic Activity showed the likely pace of future economic growth fell in July to below trend, suggesting a loss of momentum in Australia’s economy, while the Department of Employment showed the number of job vacancies posted on the internet is now 49.8 per cent below the March 2008 peak.
