End of Quarter I
After two sessions in which the futures had suggested significant gains in the morning, only for the ASX200 to close down on the day, yesterday the futures got it right. They had closed up 56 before the open and the index ultimately closed up 52.
But it was a rock’n’roll ride to get there.
At 1pm the index was up 124 points, at the closing bell it was up 81 points, and after the closing settlement, up only 52, below 6800.
Classic last-day stuff, although we could probably count the last three sessions as end-of-quarter squaring/window dressing. Yes, we have Brisbane and Byron in lockdown (Brisbane still awaiting to hear whether the Bunny will be quarantined) and we had the stuck ship and the Archegos scare, but none of that mattered yesterday.
Australian shares closed slightly lower on Monday as losses in healthcare and tech stocks outweighed gains in miners, while Macquarie Group jumped after raising its profit guidance.
Australia shares: Australia shares slip on tech, healthcare losses indiatimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from indiatimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Australian shares slipped on Friday, weighed by energy and gold stocks, as U.S. President Joe Biden's comments on China stoked worries that relations between the two nations could sour further.