Australia: Shares end at nine-month high; NZ up for 11th day

[BENGALURU] Australian shares closed on Tuesday at their highest in nearly nine months, pushed up by financial and energy stocks after Wall Street surged overnight on news of the promising results of a second coronavirus vaccine candidate.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.2 per cent higher at 6,498.2 points, the highest since Feb 27. The index had risen 1.2 per cent on Monday, before a software glitch forced trading on the Australian Securities Exchange to halt 20 minutes from open.

Major US indexes notched record closing highs on Monday, as Moderna said its experimental coronavirus vaccine was 94.5 per cent effective, days after positive test results from Pfizer's vaccine candidate.

"Lot of stocks that have been out of favour are rising on hopes that this virus downturn will be behind us in the days ahead," said Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking.

Travel stocks, which have been among the biggest casualties of the pandemic, logged significant gains.

A jump in oil prices pushed energy stocks to their highest in five months, with heavyweights Woodside Petroleum, up 3.2 per cent, and Santos, gaining 3.5 per cent, among the biggest boosts to the sub index.

Financials hit their highest since early March, with the "Big Four" banks adding between 0.7 per cent and 3 per cent.

Mr Smoling said there was hope that the virus announcements would restore normalcy to embattled businesses, so people were picking up bank stocks on expectations that bankruptcies and defaults would lessen.

On the downside, tech stocks dropped 2.8 per cent, while gold stocks tumbled 4.1 per cent.

In New Zealand, the benchmark extended its winning streak to an eleventh session, rising 0.2 per cent to a record close of 12,765.03 points.

Local shares of Westpac Banking and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group were the top percentage gainers, rising 2.8 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively.

REUTERS