Strong closure bucks US downturn

THE Australian share market closed above 6300 points for the first time in more than a decade yesterday.

The new decade high for the nation’s key index came as BHP’s deal to sell its troubled US shale oil assets more than offset investor jitters around a historic share price plunge by Facebook on Wall Street overnight Thursday.

The benchmark ASX 200 index closed up 55.7 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 6300.2, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 53.9 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 6391.5.

It was the first time the ASX 200 has closed above 6300 points since early January 2008.

For the week the benchmark index gained 14 points and has lifted 1.7 per cent during July. The share market is on track to record four consecutive months of gains — the longest run since 2013.

Nearly a year after putting its US shale assets up for sale, BHP yesterday announced it had secured a sale.

BHP shares gained 76c, or 2.3 per cent, to close at $34.40, underscoring the deal’s betterthan-expected sale price and expectations of a lucrative share buyback.

Bad news continued at home for AMP as it warned its first-half underlying profit would drop by as much as 11 per cent and it set aside about $290 million to refund and compensate customers it overcharged for financial advice. AMP shares slumped 5.2 per cent to $3.30.

Despite this, the financial sector lifted 1 per cent, helped by solid gains for the Big Four banks. ANZ rose 1.6 per cent to $29.48, National Australia Bank 1 per cent to $28.40, Westpac 1.1 per cent to $29.47 and the Commonwealth Bank 0.7 per cent to $75.36.

Oil stocks climbed after Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company announced on Thursday it was temporarily halting crude shipments through the Red Sea, causing a spike in global oil prices.

Woodside Petroleum shares gained 2.1 per cent to $35.63 while Santos added 1.1 per cent to $6.38.