ASX 200 rises as Santos plunges
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The news: The Australian sharemarket closed higher on Wednesday, clawing back some losses from the beginning of the week.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.45% to 7,615.8, with eight out of the 11 sectors finishing in green.
The utilities sector was the top performer gaining 1.94%, followed by materials (1.09%), and A-REITs (1.05%).
The best performing stock was GQG, up 6.36%, following its update that saw its funds under management increase USD6.4 billion ($9.8 billion) to USD127 billion.
It was followed by miners such as Iluka Resources (+5%) and Liontown Resources (5.6%).
Energy giant Santos shares plunged 5.46% following the announcement that a potential merger with Woodside had been called off. Woodside, however, was up 0.96%.
Property stocks BWP Trust, Lifestyle Communities, Centuria Capital Group, Dexus Industria REIT, and Lendlease were among the market's stronger performers.
The Aussie dollar was higher, buying 65.26 US cents at 4:23pm AEDT.
The context: The ASX 200’s rally was led by interest rate sensitive sectors utilities and real estate, as the Reserve Bank of Australia announced yesterday that while inflation was moderating it was still too high. Reporting season so far has been largely positive for the property sector.
Meanwhile, AGL, Transurban, REA Group, Mirvac, and News Corp will announce half year results tomorrow.
