Australia: Energy stocks boost shares, miners cap gains

[BENGALURU] Australian shares ended higher on Monday (Jan 17), boosted by energy stocks after oil prices rallied, although the gains were capped by weak mining stocks as top metals consumer China logged its slowest pace of economic growth in one-and-a-half years.

The S&P/ASX 200 settled 0.32 per cent higher at 7,417.30. It closed 1.1 per cent lower on Friday.

Energy stocks were the top boost to the benchmark index, climbing 1.4 per cent, as crude prices rose amid tight supply and worries of a Russian attack on Ukraine.

Oil and gas explorers Woodside Petroleum, Beach Energy and Santos jumped between 1.3 per cent and 4.3 per cent.

Miners dropped 1.2 per cent as China's gross domestic product data signalled cooling growth momentum and weak consumption in the property and retail sectors.

China is Australia's biggest trading partner.

Bets that the US Federal Reserve will hike interest rates several times this year also weighed on metal prices, leading Fortescue Metals, Rio Tinto and BHP down between 0.6 per cent to 2.8 per cent.

Trading volumes were thin on account of a US market holiday, with investors awaiting quarterly production reports from top miners and oil majors this week.

"The bigger question would be how the cost is running... it is hard to get staff and there are Covid-19 and weather restrictions, so miners might take a hit," said Mathan Somasundaram, CEO of Deep Data Analytics.

Retail conglomerate Wesfarmers rose 2.9 per cent, despite warning of a lower first-half profit due to coronavirus-induced restrictions.

Somasundaram attributed the gain to the market's confidence in the quality of Wesfarmers' business model despite the prospect of lower earnings.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 gained 0.13 per cent to finish at 12,806.90.

REUTERS