Australian shares closed on Tuesday at their highest in nearly nine months, pushed up by financial and energy stocks after Wall Street surged overnight on news of the promising results of a second coronavirus vaccine candidate.[BENGALURU] Australian shares closed on Tuesday at their highest in nearly nine months, pushed up by financial and energy stocks after Wall Street surged overnight on news of the promising results of a second coronavirus vaccine candidate.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.2 per cent higher at 6,498.2 points, the highest since Feb 27. The index had risen 1.2 per cent on Monday, before a software glitch forced trading on the Australian Securities Exchange to halt 20 minutes from open. Major US indexes notched record closing highs on Monday, as Moderna said its experimental coronavirus vaccine was 94.5 per cent effective, days after positive test results from Pfizer's vaccine candidate.
"Lot of stocks that have been out of favour are rising on hopes that this virus downturn will be behind us in the days ahead," said Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking. Travel stocks, which have been among the biggest casualties of the pandemic, logged significant gains.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.