Australian Stocks Surge as IT and Healthcare Sectors Lead Gains
In a dynamic trading session on Friday, Australian stocks experienced significant gains, driven by robust performances in the IT, Healthcare, and Consumer Discretionary sectors. The upbeat sentiment propelled the S&P/ASX 200 to a notable increase of 1.02% at the close in Sydney.
Leading the charge among the best performers on the S&P/ASX 200 was Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which surged by 14.15% or 0.04 points to reach 0.30 by the session’s end. Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) also made substantial gains, adding 11.40% or 0.07 points to close at 0.64, while EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) rose by 8.79% or 0.08 points to 0.99 in late trade.
Conversely, Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SGR) faced declines, slipping by 3.00% or 0.02 points to trade at 0.48 by the session’s close. St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) also experienced a downturn, declining by 2.78% or 0.01 points to end at 0.18, while Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN) dropped by 2.67% or 0.03 points to 0.91.
Overall, rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange, with 597 stocks registering gains compared to 550 stocks in decline. A total of 367 stocks ended the session unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, experienced a 4.14% decline, closing at 11.27.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures witnessed an increase of 0.04% or 0.85, which reached to $2,022.45 per troy ounce, in February delivery. Meanwhile, Crude oil March delivery had a marginal decline of 0.08% or 0.06, settling at $73.89 per barrel. In addition, the March Brent oil contract fell by 0.23% or 0.18, trading at $78.92 per barrel.
In currency markets, the AUD/USD is also unchanged at 0.66, whereas the AUD/JPY pair rose by 0.30% to 97.67. The US Dollar Index Futures declined by 0.13% to 103.17.
The notable surge in Australian stocks underscores the resilience of the market amid ongoing volatility and economic uncertainty. Investors remain cautiously optimistic, closely monitoring sector performances and global market trends for further insights into market direction.
