Australia: Shares end higher on banking boost; Woodside Energy drops
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AUSTRALIAN shares ended a choppy trading session higher on Thursday (Jul 21), lifted by the country’s heavyweight banking stocks, while Woodside Energy dropped 4.4 per cent after providing a disappointing outlook.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 35.1 points or 0.5 per cent higher at 6,794.3, building on a 1.6 per cent advance on Wednesday.
“Some of the better-than-expected earnings news from the US is helping lift the more the defensive parts of the local market,” said Kerry Craig, a global market strategist at JPMorgan.
Financial stocks added 1 per cent, with Australia and New Zealand Banking (ANZ) leading the pack upon resuming trade after announcing its A$4.9 billion (S$4.7 billion) buy of Suncorp’s banking arm earlier in the week.
ANZ rose 2.2 per cent, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corp rose 1.7 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.
Energy stocks were 2.8 per cent lower after disappointing forecasts from top Australian oil and gas producers Woodside Energy and Santos, amid muted sentiment in the sector after an overnight fall in crude prices.
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Woodside Energy downgraded its production outlook for the year while flagging delays to a project inherited from BHP’s petroleum assets, sending shares 4.4 per cent lower, their worst session since Jul 6.
Santos also lowered the top end of its production and sales guidance for the year, after reporting a jump in quarterly revenue. Shares shed 1.9 per cent.
Share registry firm Link Administration’s board decided to recommend a A$2.47 billion buyout by Dye & Durham after the Canadian software firm raised its bid price. Shares of Link Administration rose 12.6 per cent.
Technology stocks, which closely track their US-listed peers, rose 3.2 per cent and hit their highest level since early May, after upbeat earnings powered Wall Street indices higher overnight.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 70.75 points or 0.6 per cent to 11,269.76, helped by utilities firms Meridian Energy and Mercury NZ. REUTERS
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