The Australian sharemarket bounced back strongly at the open, advancing full steam ahead towards the 7200 mark. Energy stocks and iron ore miners are doing the heavy lifting, bolstered by surges in the iron ore and oil prices. Oil prices have gained momentum from an agreement between OPEC+ members regarding oil production.
Oil prices have gained momentum from an agreement between OPEC+ members regarding oil production, as Brent crude saw a rise of 1.8 per cent. Australian energy stocks benefited from the high sentiment, as AGL
(ASX:AGL) and Origin Energy
(ASX:ORG) soared 2 per cent and 3.2 per cent higher by lunchtime
Materials have added strength to the rally, as a 4.9 per cent rise in the benchmark iron price lifted iron miners BHP
(ASX:BHP), Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO), and Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG)Health Care and Info Tech weighed down the broader market, as CSL
(ASX:CSL) and Afterpay
(ASX:APT)lagged 0.7 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively by midday.
At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.64 per cent or 45.60 points higher at 7188.20.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 39 points.
Economic news The Australian Bureau of Statistics has recorded GDP growth of 1.8 per cent in the third quarter of FY21, lifting the annual growth figure to 1.1 per cent. The data exceeded market analysts’ expectations by 0.3 per cent.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Energy, up 2.71 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Health Care, down 0.87 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), trading 4.78 per cent higher at $1.31. It is followed by shares in Nickel Mines (ASX:NIC) and Santos (ASX:STO).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Ansell (ASX:ANN), trading 3.21 per cent lower at $39.77. It is followed by shares in Omni Bridgeway (ASX:OBL) and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (ASX:FPH).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1901.13 an ounce.
Iron ore is 4.90 per cent higher at US$208.67 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 2.37 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 77.68 US cents.
