Australia shares rise on financials and materials; NZ up on a2 Milk

CSL Finance

22/02/2018 06:25

* Materials and financials stocks help up Aussie shares 
    * Airline and travel stocks rise on strong earnings 
    * NZ jumps on a2 Milk 
 
 (Updates to close) 
    By Aditya Soni 
    Feb 22 (Reuters - Australian shares reversed losses seen 
earlier in the session to finish slightly firmer on Thursday, 
with financials and materials leading the gains as investors 
worked through a flood  of earnings reports.   
    The S&P/ASX 200 index  .AXJO  rose 7.2 points or 0.1 percent 
to 5,950.900 at the close of trade. The benchmark added 2.846 
points on Wednesday.  
    BHP, the world's biggest miner, rebounded from losses in the 
past few days to rise 1.3 percent on Thursday, boosting the 
benchmark.  
    BHP's first-half results on Tuesday missed expectations, 
although shareholders enjoyed a dividend boost.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1QC064 
    Meanwhile, banks accounted for most of the gains on the 
benchmark, with the Australian financial index  .AXFJ  rising 
0.4 percent to its highest in more than two weeks.   
    Commonwealth Bank of Australia  CBA.AX , the country's 
biggest lender by market capitalisation, gained 0.4 percent, 
while National Australia Bank Ltd  NAB.AX  added 0.5 percent. 
    Rising health care stocks also helped cement gains with CSL 
Ltd  CSL.AX  up 0.9 percent to a record high.  
    Travel and aviation stocks attracted investor attention with 
strong earnings.  
    Qantas Airways Ltd  QAN.AX  rose 5.9 percent to its highest 
since December after it reported a record first-half profit and 
announced a A$378 million ($295.03 million) share buyback. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1QB4GC  
    Shares of Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd  FLT.AX  rose to a 
record high on half-year profit that beat expectations, while 
online rival Webjet Ltd  WEB.AX  soared 15 percent as its 
revenue tripled.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1QB4GP 
     Crown Resorts Ltd  CWN.AX , with its turnover boosted by 
Chinese high rollers, reported a slight rise in first-half 
profit sending the shares of Australia's biggest casino operator 
to a near two-week high.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1QB53D 
    In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  rose 
0.8 percent or 66.61 points to finish the session at 8,266.88. 
    A2 Milk Company Ltd  ATM.NZ  was the benchmark's primary  
contributor for a second consecutive session as it surged 9.8 
percent to a record high.  
    Air New Zealand Ltd  AIR.NZ  rose 1.2 percent to a two-week 
high after boosting its interim dividend and saying it was 
headed for its second-biggest annual profit.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1QB3WO 
     
      
 
 
($1 = 1.2812 Australian dollars) 
 
 (Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Eric Meijer) 
 ((Aditya.Soni@thomsonreuters.com; +91 80 6749 1783; Reuters 
Messaging: Aditya.Soni.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
  
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Keywords: AUSTRALIA STOCKS/ CLOSE