Australia Market close higher on Fed minutes, upbeat payroll jobs

Australian share market finished session higher on Thursday, 07 July 2022, benefited from the overnight gains on Wall Street after the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting in June provided a sense of relief due to the absence of any major surprises. Meanwhile, sentiments were also underpinned by an improvement in the number of payroll jobs in the country.

However, market gains capped as some investors were seen taking a wait-and-see attitude ahead of key US jobs data due later this week.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 advanced 53.47 points, or 0.81%, to 6,647.96. The broader All Ordinaries index gained 52.59 points, or 0.78%, to 6,836.91.

The top performing stocks in this index were IMUGENE and PINNACLE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT GROUP, up 9.1% and 7.6% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in this index were EML PAYMENTS and LYNAS RARE EARTH, down 9.9% and 6.2% respectively.

Total 5 of 11 sectors ended higher along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Materials was the best performing sector, gaining +2.46% followed by consumer discretionary (up 1.3%) and financial (up 0.9%), while industrial was the worst performing sector, down 0.8%, followed by information technology (down 0.5%).

ECONOMIC NEWS: The number of payroll jobs in Australia rose 0.1% in the month to June 11, reported the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday. In the month to June 11, payrolls expanded in 10 of 19 industries in Australia, said the ABS. The largest payroll expansions were in the arts and recreation services, up 1.4%, and in public administration and safety industries, up 1.1%. In total, the number of payroll jobs in Australia was up by 6.8% in June when compared with the start of the pandemic, and payrolls were higher than pre-pandemic levels in 14 of 19 industries, added ABS.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 106.847. The Australian dollar was at $0.6807.

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