Foreign Markets

Australia stock market finished session modestly higher on Thursday, 18 April 2024, as dip-buying kicked in after the market?s five-day losing streak and as the latest unemployment figures showing a slowdown in the labour market ? a key statistic closely watched by the Reserve Bank in making its interest-rate decisions.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 36.52 points, or 0.48%, to 7,642.11. The broader All Ordinaries index advanced 37.85 points, or 0.48%, to 7,898.86.

Total 6 of 11 sectors were lower despite gain in the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Healthcare was worst performing sector, falling 3.28%, followed by consumer discretionary (down 2.34%), industrials idown 1.92%), and information technology (down 1.71%) sectors. Utilities was the best performing sector, gaining 0.77%, followed by financials (up 0.61%), and materials (up 0.61%) sectors.

The top performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were TELIX PHARMACEUTICALS and BANK OF QUEENSLAND, up 9.41% and 6.12% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were RESMED INC and EVOLUTION MINING, down 4.33% and 3.85% respectively.

Shares of materials and resources were up after the price of iron ore shot up more than 6% overnight. Rio Tinto climbed 1.7% while Fortescue added 0.4%. BHP surged 1.5% after the company provided a bullish outlook to investors in its third-quarter update, saying it remained on track to meet its copper, iron ore and energy coal production forecasts for the fiscal year.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia's Unemployment Rate Rises to 3.8% in March 2024- Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 3.8% in March 2024 from February's 3.7%. The number of unemployed individuals rose by 20.6 thousand to 569.9 thousand. Full-time job seekers increased by 19.3 thousand to 371.3 thousand, while part-time job seekers rose by 1.3 thousand to 198.6 thousand. Employment unexpectedly fell by 6.6 thousand to 14.26 million, with part-time employment dropping by 34.5 thousand to 4.41 million and full-time employment increasing by 27.9 thousand to 9.85 million. The participation rate slightly decreased from 66.7% to 66.6%. The underemployment rate was 6.5%, down 2.3 points from March 2020. Monthly hours in all jobs increased by 17 million, or 0.9%, to 1,956 million.

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