ASX 200: Brickworks swings to profit; Soul Patts ups dividends; Cleanaway buys Vic group; US Fed holds rate, dims outlook
AUD down on 53,000 fewer jobs in Feb. Judo dives as Bain, GIC offload stake. Rinehart-backed Arafura's best day in almost a year. Red flag raised after $20m withdrawal by Star patrons. Nanosonics is top mid-cap gainer after US FDA tick.
That's all from the Trading Day blog for Thursday, March 20. The ASX 200 index closed up 1.2 per cent at a near two-week high of 7918.9 points as US futures added to strong US leads after a somewhat reassuring outcome from the FOMC meeting.
Wall Street rose as the US Federal Reserve delivered on expectations of a rate hold and lowered growth forecasts. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes rose about 1 per cent and the technology-focused Nasdaq gained 1.4 per cent.
Cryptocurrency giant bitcoin has climbed above $US85,000.
The Aussie dollar is trading around US63.39c, down on the reduction in jobs.
Originally published as ASX 200: Brickworks swings to profit; Soul Patts ups dividends; Cleanaway buys Vic group; US Fed holds rate, dims outlook