Australian Sharemarket Surges on Christmas Window Dressing

Strategic Insights -

The Australian sharemarket experienced a significant boost on Tuesday, largely driven by Christmas window dressing by fund managers. The benchmark all ordinaries index closed 21.8 points higher at 2,759.8, after reaching an intra-day high of 2,772.3. This surge was primarily led by key industrial stocks, with the all industrials index climbing 44.8 points to 4,957.4.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Australian sharemarket closed 21.8 points higher at 2,759.8, primarily driven by Christmas window dressing by fund managers.
  • The all industrials index climbed 44.8 points to 4,957.4, with key industrial stocks leading the charge.
  • The bank index added 18.3 points to 6,327.5, with National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Westpac bank experiencing increases.
  • Rio Tinto defied the downward trend among diversified stocks, surging 59.4 cents to 19.42 Australian dollars.
  • Australia's leading company BHP off-loaded 6.9 cents to 12.031 Australian dollars, while the gold index eased 2.9 points to 1,094.1.
  • Preliminary national turnover was 387.52 million stocks changing hands for 670 million U.S. dollars.

Statistics:

  • The benchmark all ordinaries index closed at 2,759.8, an increase of 21.8 points.
  • The all industrials index climbed 44.8 points to 4,957.4.
  • The bank index added 18.3 points to 6,327.5.
  • Rio Tinto surged 59.4 cents to 19.42 Australian dollars.
  • Australia's leading company BHP off-loaded 6.9 cents to 12.031 Australian dollars.
  • The gold index eased 2.9 points to 1,094.1.
  • Preliminary national turnover was 387.52 million stocks changing hands for 670 million U.S. dollars.

Sources:

  • XINHUA - "Australian sharemarket takes lead from Wall Street to close firmer" (Dec. 22)
  • COMTEX - "Sharemarket News" (http://www.comtexnews.com)