ASX200 edges higher shrugging off earlier losses – NEWS.com.au

Australian share markets closed higher on Thursday with technology stocks surging off the back of Afterpays glowing investment outlook. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index edged higher at the close of the session adding 35 points, or 0.6 per cent, to finish the day at 5955.5.
The broader All Ordinaries closed higher 40.6 points, or 0.7 per cent to 6074.9, while the Australian dollar rose 0.02 per cent to 69.85 cents at close.
Buy-now-pay-later company Afterpay led the surge as investment firms lifted the company’s outlook due to its ongoing global expansion.
Afterpay closed the session up 11.4 per cent to $73.50 per share, with brokerage firm Morgan Stanley upgrading its 12-month price target for its listed stock to $101 each.
Manufacturing company GWA had the largest daily fall, dropping by 3 per cent to $2.57 per share.
The financial sector experienced an overall decline of 0.01 per cent, after figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing the largest monthly fall in new home loan financing.
Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan noted the housing market drop-off sparked by COVID-19 was showing a “lagged impact” on the overall lending sector.
ANZ closed up 0.43 per cent to $18.49 per share, while Commonwealth Bank fell 0.2 per cent to $70.42 each.
NAB rose 0.4 per cent to $18.06 per share and shares in Westpac finished 0.4 per cent higher to $17.91.
Major miners also ended the session higher, with BHP rising 2 per cent to $36.46 per share and Rio Tinto edging 3.3 per cent to 3.13 per share.
Medical technology company Cochlear closed 0.6 per cent lower to $192.05 each.
Traded Qantas stocks remained unchanged, while travel company Flight Centre closed 2.7 per cent lower to $10.81 per share.
An expected 21 per cent hit to Treasury Wine Estates earnings due to the pandemic caused the group’s stock to tumble 2.9 per cent to $10.95 each.
Telstra finished 2.63 per cent higher to $3.51, while Woolworths Group clipped a 0.03-per-cent fall to end the day at $38.21 per share. Wesfarmers rose 0.4 per cent to $45.65 per share.

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