Australia: Shares end higher on tech surge, virus slowdown optimism

[SYDNEY] Australian shares settled higher on Monday, with tech stocks ending at a record peak while a significant slowdown in fresh daily coronavirus cases fuelled hopes that a deadly second wave may be on the wane.

The country's second-most populous state of Victoria reported its smallest daily rise in fresh Covid-19 cases in seven weeks following strict lockdown curbs.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.3 per cent to 6,129.60, snapping two straight sessions of losses.

However, investor optimism was dulled to a degree by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's forecast that effective unemployment in Australia would breach 13 per cent by the end of September amid lockdowns.

"Though real unemployment rates are likely a lot higher, government payments, including JobKeeper and JobSeeker, have kept people employed but can't go on forever," said Simon Herrmann, an equity analyst at Wise-Owl.com.

"There are significant risks to the real economy but the stock-market party continues as if nothing has happened, that can't be healthy in the long run."

Technology stocks jumped 3.2 per cent, tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite's record finish on Friday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index climbed 0.7 per cent to finish the session at 11,921.07.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended a coronavirus lockdown in Auckland until the end of the week in a bid to enable the country to gradually rollback its scale of emergency restrictions.

REUTERS