Advertisement
Australia markets close in 2 hours 19 minutes
  • ALL ORDS

    7,934.20
    +9.00 (+0.11%)
     
  • ASX 200

    7,681.90
    +6.10 (+0.08%)
     
  • AUD/USD

    0.6554
    -0.0006 (-0.09%)
     
  • OIL

    82.60
    -0.12 (-0.15%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,164.30
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • Bitcoin AUD

    100,609.35
    -2,626.73 (-2.54%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • AUD/EUR

    0.6025
    -0.0002 (-0.03%)
     
  • AUD/NZD

    1.0785
    +0.0007 (+0.06%)
     
  • NZX 50

    11,769.27
    +41.26 (+0.35%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    17,985.01
    +176.76 (+0.99%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,722.55
    -4.87 (-0.06%)
     
  • Dow Jones

    38,790.43
    +75.66 (+0.20%)
     
  • DAX

    17,932.68
    -3.97 (-0.02%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,643.23
    -93.89 (-0.56%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    39,596.29
    -144.15 (-0.36%)
     

ASX jumped Wednesday as PM ruled out Covid-19 elimination

Daniel Tupou of the Roosters jumps and taps the ball back for a try to Mitchell Aubusson of the Roosters during the round three NRL match between the Parramatta Eels and the Sydney Roosters at ANZ Stadium on March 29, 2019 in Sydney, Australia.
The ASX jumped in early trade Wednesday. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Note: This article will be updated with the latest ASX figures at market close.

The Australian share market celebrated a huge gains on Wednesday as the prime minister ruled out Covid-19 elimination strategies as too harmful for the economy.

The All Ordinaries ended trading 1.9 per cent higher, coming to a rest at 6,160.40. The ASX200 index was up 1.88 per cent at the same time, to finish Wednesday on 6,052.90 points.

The share market rise came as Australia was gripped by the second wave of Covid-19 in Melbourne and the potential of an outbreak in NSW.

Prime minister Scott Morrison in the afternoon ruled out suggestions of a virus elimination strategy, citing it would wreck the economy without guarantee that outbreaks like in Melbourne would not occur.

What happened at lunchtime?

The Australian stock market is having a good time Wednesday, with both indices well up at lunchtime.

ADVERTISEMENT

The All Ordinaries was 1.37 per cent higher at 12:14pm AEST, trading at 6,128.40. The ASX200 index was up 1.35 per cent at the same time, reaching 6,021.20 points.

Similar to Wall Street overnight, mining companies led the gains on Wednesday morning. Orocobre had gained 6.42 per cent shortly before midday,

Media company News Corp was also flying, putting on 6.14 per cent of value.

What happened this morning?

Australian shares rose in early trade Wednesday morning, after US markets did the same overnight.

The ASX200 index headed up 1.14 per cent in the first 19 minutes of the session to reach 6,008.80 points, while the All Ordinaries was 1.21 per cent higher to trade at 6,118.70.

Local investors will be watching Wednesday whether a Covid-19 cluster in south-western Sydney will spread further. Melbourne is already in its second lockdown, shutting down many businesses.

What happened overnight?

Wall Street closed higher overnight, with energy stocks surprisingly heading up in value.

"Today is counterintuitive. We are reading about California's economy shutting down and a record spike in cases in Florida, and yet you have energy stocks leading," TrimTabs Asset Management chief Bob Shea told AAP.

"We're seeing a mini-rotation into value."

However, US banks suffered as several posted less-than-flattering results after incurring costs to cover customers in financial trouble due to the virus pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial ended the session 2.14 per cent higher, the S&P500 was 1.34 per cent up, and the Nasdaq gained 0.94 per cent.

The optimism in the US led to Australia's SPI200 futures heading up 0.47 per cent at 8am AEST Wednesday.

with AAP

Follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.