Australia Market extends gain to fifth day

Australian share market finished session notably higher on Monday, 01 August 2022, extending gains for a fifth straight session, on following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday and as latest data indicated domestic manufacturing sector continued to expand last month.

However, market upside was largely capped on caution ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy decision on Tuesday, where the RBA is expected to announce its third successive 50 basis point interest rate hike to tame surging inflation.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose by 47.82 points, or 0.69%, to 6,992.97. The broader All Ordinaries index added by 39.21 points, or 0.55%, to 7,212.96.

The top performing stocks in this index were ALLKEM and LYNAS RARE EARTHS, up 4.52% and 4.48% respectively. The worst performers of the session were UNITED MALT GROUP and MEGAPORT, which fell 17.2% and 14.4%, respectively, at the close.

Most of ASX sectors closed higher, with gains in materials, energy and technology stocks, partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in July, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 55.7. That's down from 56.2 in June, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

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