Australia: Shares snap three-day losing streak as NSW eases curbs

[BENGALURU] Australian shares snapped a three-session losing streak to close higher on Wednesday, after the country's most populous state eased some Covid-19 restrictions for Christmas as new case numbers stayed low.

New South Wales, the site of a new virus outbreak in Australia, relaxed virus curbs ahead of Christmas after reporting eight locally acquired cases, unchanged from Tuesday.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.7 per cent higher at 6,643.1, with all major indexes apart from miners and gold stocks trading in the black.

However, strict restrictions in the most-affected northern seaside suburbs of Sydney will remain and the full lockdown for the entire region is slated to resume on Dec 27.

"While the new outbreak appears to be contained, the inconsistent reactions between states creates a great deal of uncertainty," said Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking.

"Should the outbreak bloom over the holiday period, the rules could change while we're away."

Energy stocks led gains on the benchmark, settling 1.3 per cent higher. Woodside Petroleum and Origin Energy rose 0.9 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Macquarie Group were the biggest boosts to the heavyweight financial index, which rose 0.7 per cent.

Consumer, travel and real estate stocks also saw hefty gains as easing virus curbs lifted broader sentiment.

On the flip side, miners fell 0.7 per cent as iron ore futures dropped over 4 per cent after the Chinese market regulator stepped up trading curbs to curtail speculative buying that had pushed the steelmaking metal's prices to record peaks.

BHP Group finished 1 per cent lower, while Rio Tinto shed 0.5 per cent.

Across the Tasman Sea New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index gained 1.4 per cent to finish the session at a record high of 13,020.21, supported by gains in utilities and financials.

REUTERS