Aussie share market surges as tech, communications lead gains

Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-16 15:49:48|Editor: huaxia

SYDNEY, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Australian share market finished higher on Wednesday, with information technology and communications leading broad-based gains.

At the market close the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 61.30 points or 1.04 percent at 5,956.10, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 67.60 points or 1.11 percent at 6,146.90.

"Gains were still broad-based with all sectors making gains. The local tech sector was the biggest mover following more improvements for U.S. tech stocks overnight," CommSec market analyst James Tao said.

"The communications sector was the other big mover with job listing site Seek Limited advancing 9.4 percent."

The online job portal stood out in Wednesday's session on reports that Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba is a potential investor in its Chinese unit, Zhaopin.

In the financial space, the big banks were mixed with Commonwealth Bank up (1.03 percent), National Australia Bank down (0.06 percent), Westpac Bank up (0.24 percent), and ANZ down (0.29 percent).

Mining stocks were mostly higher with BHP up (1.36 percent), Rio Tinto up (0.64 percent), and gold miner Newcrest up (0.06 percent). However, Fortescue Metals was down (2.03 percent).

The country's oil and gas producers surged with Oil Search up (1.06 percent), Santos up (1.77 percent), and Woodside Petroleum up (1.16 percent).

Australia's largest supermarkets bounced with Coles up (0.41 percent), and Woolworths up (1.10 percent).

Meanwhile, telecommunications giant Telstra surged (1.06 percent), the national carrier Qantas soared (2.54 percent) and biomedical firm CSL surged (1.37 percent). Enditem

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