ASX 200 index closes 0.3% higher; Australian shares extend gains to close near 14-month peak
SECTIONS
Last Updated: Apr 29, 2021, 02:28 PM IST
Share
Synopsis
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.3% higher at 7,082.3. Gains in tech and gold stocks helped outweigh dismal trading updates from Woolworths and Fortescue Metals.
Agencies
Australia s biggest gold miner Newcrest jumped as much as 2.7% after posting production of 512,424 ounces for the March period, beating the 491,539 ounces tipped by RBC analysts.
Related
Australian shares closed at their highest level in nearly 14 months on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session when mild inflation data pushed the benchmark index to snap its two-day losing streak.
Advertisement
Singapore: Chinaâs top diplomat in Australia has warned Chinese students and tourists will question whether to return to Australia after the coronavirus pandemic, raising the possibility of further trade blows to Australian goods.
The comments from Ambassador Cheng Jingye come as Australian winemakers reel from a 96 per cent drop in the value of their exports to China.
They follow the federal governmentâs decision to cancel Victoriaâs Belt and Road agreement, a move labelled âunreasonable and irrationalâ by Cheng on Thursday.
A man compares two bottles of Australian wine at a supermarket in Hangzhou in east Chinaâs Zhejiang province.
Australia Export Prices Surge 11.2% On Quarter In Q1 Export prices in Australia jumped 11.2 percent on quarter in the first three months of 2021, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday – after climbing 5.5 percent in the previous three months.
The main contributors to the rise were: metal ores and metal scrap (+18.2 percent), driven by the demand for iron ore from China and constrained global supply; gas, natural and manufactured (+20.2 percent), due to the oil-linked contracts capturing the recovery in oil prices from late 2020; and petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (+37.3 percent), driven by stronger oil demand and reduced global supply.
Import prices were up 0.2 percent on quarter after sinking 1.0 percent in the three months prior.
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian and NZ dollars climbed against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday amid risk appetite, as the Federal Reserve pledged to maintain ultra-easy
“Some claim that the problems in bilateral trade ties resulted from China’s economic coercion against Australia. What a ridiculous and irrelevant argument,” he said at the Australia China Business Council briefing. “As the old saying goes, whoever tied the knot is responsible for untying it.”
China’s retaliatory strikes across A$20 billion ($21.4b) in exports have hit local wine producers among the hardest of any industry. Coal, barley and wood have largely been able to diversify into other markets, but winemakers have seen the value of their exports to China fall from A$325 million between December 2019 and March last year to A$12 million during the same period this year.