The Australian share market has ended marginally higher on Friday after the rout in the previous session, as investors remained on edge over the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed just 7.2 points, or 0.1 per cent higher at 6997.8 points on Friday after rising as much as 0.77 per cent in early trade.
The index was down 3.1 per cent for the week after sliding nearly 3 per cent on Thursday.
The All Ordinaries index ended up 20.5 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 7273.6 points.
Western nations unveiled fresh sanctions to limit Russia’s ability to do business by freezing bank assets and cutting off state-owned enterprises. But they stopped short of disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT international banking system or targeting its oil and gas exports.
“Markets are a little bit relieved around the sanctions towards Russia, which excluded a lot of the major concerns around commodities and the export of gas,” Burman Invest chief investment officer Julia Lee said.
Local technology stocks rebounded sharply after overnight gains on Wall Street, but heavyweight energy, mining and financial sectors remained under pressure amid the geopolitical turmoil.
“The markets seem decided at the moment on headlines, which means that the volatility probably isn’t over yet,” Ms Lee said.
Technology shares rallied after being pummelled in the previous session, led by a 32.5 per cent surge in payments giant Block.
The company overnight reported better than expected fourth quarter results in the US. Its stock, which replaced Afterpay on the ASX in January after taking over the buy now pay later pioneer, closed at $153.75.
Appen shares jumped nearly 9 per cent, while Wisetech Global rose 5 per cent and Xero climbed 3 per cent.
Utilities and consumer discretionary stocks also saw gains.
But the heavyweight mining sector was weaker, mainly on account of gold stocks dropping amid a decline in bullion prices. Newcrest, Evolution and Northern Star Resources all dropped between 3 and 5 per cent.
Iron ore majors BHP and Rio Tinto also ended lower, while Lynas Rare Earth shares jumped nearly 7 per cent to $9.57 after posting a record first-half profit.
Energy stocks were mixed even as oil prices rose, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stoking global supply concerns. Santos closed 0.7 per cent higher but Woodside Petroleum was down 0.5 per cent.
Each of the Big Four banks closed heavily in negative territory, while Magellan Financial dropped another 10 per cent to $17.78 after the troubled investment firm disclosed further fund outflows in the past few weeks.
Medibank shares dropped more than 3.8 per cent after the health insurer unveiled a drop in first half profit.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was volatile but steadied late in the session. It was buying 71.97 US cents at 1720 AEDT, compared to 71.95 US cents at Thursday’s close.
ON THE ASX
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed 7.2 points, or 0.1 per cent higher at 6997.8 points on Friday.
* The All Ordinaries index ended up 20.5 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 7273.6 points.
* At 1720 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was up six points or 0.09 per cent to 6958 points.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT
One Australian dollar buys:
* 71.97 US cents, from 71.95 cents on Thursday
* 82.95 Japanese yen, from 82.46 yen
* 64.17 Euro cents, from 63.99 cents
* 53.62 British pence, from 53.30 pence
* 107.19 NZ cents, from 106.93 cents.
