Australia: Shares wind down for Christmas on a positive note

[SYDNEY] Australian shares closed higher in a holiday-shortened trade on Friday, as fears about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus receded, with wealth manager AMP rallying after divesting its infrastructure debt platform.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.4 per cent higher at 7,420.3 points, with the benchmark recording a weekly gain of 1.6 per cent.

Reports showed that US drugmakers Merck and Pfizer's Covid-19 antiviral pills were effective against the variant, cheering investors ahead of an extended Christmas weekend in Australia. Markets in Australia and New Zealand will be closed till Tuesday and will resume trading on Wednesday.

"The latest studies suggesting reduced hospitalisations with the Omicron variant appear to have lowered virus anxiety, prompting the occurrence of the Santa rally," said Kunal Sawhney, CEO of Kalkine Group.

Meanwhile, Australian authorities said on Friday they would further shorten the interval for a booster shot to control the record surge in cases stoked by Omicron.

Among individual stocks and sectors, financials added 0.4 per cent, with the top four banks rising between 0.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent.

AMP climbed 6.4 per cent to be the top gainer on the subindex and the benchmark after announcing a sale of its infrastructure debt division to Ares Management for US$310 million.

The energy sector rose 0.9 per cent, extending gains for fourth session following an overnight rally in oil prices. Gas producer Santos added 2.2 per cent, while oil refiner Viva Energy climbed 1.8 per cent.

Miners jumped 0.5 per cent as iron ore prices perked up, helping the index post a fifth straight weekly gain.

Iron ore major BHP Group rose 0.2 per cent, while smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group added 0.4 per cent.

Technology stocks reversed losses from Thursday to end higher, with Novonix and Afterpay being among top gainers. For the week, it added 3.5 per cent.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed 0.2 per cent higher at 12,888.4 points.

REUTERS