Australia: Shares up on fewer new virus cases, New Zealand rises to 6-month high
Add BT as a preferred source
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
[BENGALURU] Australian shares gained on Tuesday after the country's second most populous state reported its lowest daily rise in new Covid-19 infections in a month.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.4 per cent to 6,096.8 points by 0042 GMT, from a 0.8 per cent drop in the last session.
Victoria recorded 17 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, down from 25 a day earlier, stoking hopes that a second wave of infection in the state is easing.
Further boosting the morale, Australia's biggest biotech company CSL, said it was in talks with AstraZeneca to determine if the potential Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the British drugmaker could be manufactured locally.
Leading the rally, gold stocks jumped over 3 per cent, extending gains into the fourth session as the yellow metal touched its highest in nearly a week.
Evolution Mining climbed to its highest since July 23 as the gold miner resumed operations at its Red Lake Gold Mine in Canada which were temporarily suspended on Aug 12 following a nearby forest fire.
Navigate Asia in
a new global order
Get the insights delivered to your inbox.
The tech sub-index added 1.6 per cent, taking leads from an overnight strong rally on Wall Street.
Shares of sub-index heavyweights, Afterpay and Xero surged over 2.5 per cent each.
Mining stocks gained 1.5 per cent as the Dalian benchmark contract extended gains into a third session on upbeat demand prospects in top steel producer China.
BHP Group eked out gains of nearly 0.1 per cent even as the world's largest listed miner reported a lower-than-expected annual profit and also warned of a slowing economic growth outside China.
Among the losers, Financials dropped 1.3 per cent to mark their worst session in more than a week.
The country's second biggest lender, Westpac Banking Corp fell 3.7 per cent as it scrapped interim dividend citing ongoing uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Supported by healthcare and real-estate stocks, the New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index, advanced 1.4 per cent to its highest since Feb 24.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp climbed 6 per cent to a record high, while Argosy Property jumped over 4 per cent.
REUTERS
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services
