ASX rises 1.9 per cent despite fears of COVID lockdown

The Australian sharemarket made strong gains on Wednesday despite fears the economy could be heading for a second shutdown.

Australian stocks made strong gains on Wednesday despite fresh fears COVID-19 clusters could prompt a second shutdown.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 112 points, or 1.9 per cent to 6052.9, largely off the back of strong gains in consumer discretionary, healthcare, technology and material listed companies.

The broader All Ordinaries climbed 115 points, or 1.9 per cent, to 6160.4, while the Australian dollar at the end of the session rose 0.4 per cent to 70 US cents.

Wednesday’s rally coincided with the release of Westpac’s monthly consumer sentiment survey, which showed Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown had caused confidence to drop 6.1 per cent to an index position of 87.9 per cent.

“Sentiment has been rocked by the resurgence in coronavirus cases over the last month,” Mr Evans said.

“The drop in confidence reverses all of last month’s impressive gain, taking the index back to the weak levels seen in May.”

Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals experienced the largest surge with its listed shares rising 6.8 per cent to $23.55 each.

IOOF Holding had the largest fall out of any ASX200 company, with its stock falling 2.9 per cent to $4.99 per share.

Major miners had a strong trading day, with Rio Tinto climbing 3.7 per cent to close at $104.98 per share. Rival BHP rose 2.5 per cent to $38, while asset impairment charges of $US3.92 billion prompted Woodside Petroleum shares to fall 2.2 per cent to $20.96.

Major banks all made slight gains. Commonwealth Bank rose 1.4 per cent to $72.73 per share, ANZ closed the session up 1.3 per cent to $18.66.

NAB rose 0.4 per cent to $18.18 and Westpac closed up 0.8 per cent to $46.86.

Medical stocks also made considerable grounds, with Cochlear shares rising 1.7 per cent to $190.37 each, and biotechnology firm CSL rising 3 per cent to $287.33 per share.

Woolworths rose 1.3 per cent to $38.91, while rival conglomerate Wesfarmers upped its share price by 1.9 per cent to close at $46.86 each.