Tourism stock boost on NSW Covid news

THE Austraian sharemarket finished in the black on Monday with travel stocks among the best performers.

The benchmark ASX200 index strengthened 0.57 per cent to 7384.2 points while the All Ordinaries Index gained 0.54 per cent to 7690.7.

CommSec analyst Steven Daghlian said the local bourse had a cracking start despite little movement on Wall Street.

With three days of trading left this month, the ASX 200 is trading down 2 per cent for September, which could mean an end to a stellar run of 11 straight months of gains.

But OMG chief executive Ivan Tchourilov said travel stocks had a stellar day.

“The NSW premier presented the roadmap out of lockdown, which has again boosted travel stocks,” he said.

Flight Centre, which plans to soon reopen up to 150 stores in NSW, gained 7.48 per cent to $21.27, Webjet lifted 5.2 per cent to $6.46 and Qantas added 2.8 per cent to $5.80.