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Headline indices of the Australia market closed higher on Wednesday, 19 September 2018, following the overnight gains on Wall Street, with the big miners and energy stocks being notable gainers, reflecting higher copper, iron ore, and oil prices. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 28.5 points, or 0.46%, at 6,190.0 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was 27.5 points, or 0.44%, higher at 6,297.0 points.
Shares of materials and resources inclined, reflecting higher copper and iron ore prices on broad improvements in global investment sentiment. Copper prices recorded an unexpected rise of 2.43% overnight, while iron ore jumped too. BHP Billiton was up 2.9% to A$32.40 and Rio Tinto rose 3.1% to A$75.40.
Energy stocks advanced, helped by an overnight jump in oil prices. Woodside Petroleum, the country's biggest listed oil and gas explorer, rose 0.8%, while Santos firmed 2.5%
Shares in banks and financial players were also higher, with Westpac recording the strongest gain, up 1.1% to A$28.20, while Commonwealth Bank had the weakest gain, up 0.24% to A$72.09.
ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Westpac Leading Index Indicates Slowing Growth Momentum-- Australia Westpac-Melbourne Institute leading index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity relative to trend three to nine months into the future, fell to -0.02% in August from 0.5% in July, data from Westpac showed Wednesday. Westpac expects momentum to slow to around 2.5% in the second half of 2018, which will be slightly below trend, with this slower pace to be sustained through 2019 at around 2.7%.
CURRENCY: Australian Dollar rallied against greenback and other major currencies on Wednesday. The Australian dollar was buying at 72.49 US cents, up from 72.13 on Tuesday; 81.45 Japanese yen, from 80.98; 62.05 euro cents, from 61.62; 55.09 British pence, from 54.82; and 109.75 NZ cents, from 109.31.
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