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Australia shares join global rally on vaccine hopes; tourism, oil stocks take off

Published 10/11/2020, 11:16 am
Updated 10/11/2020, 11:48 am
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

* Tourism, leisure stocks lead rally in Australia, NZ

* Energy stocks jump after oil prices soar over 8%

* Gold stocks plunge as investors dump safe-haven assets

By Shruti Sonal

Nov 10 (Reuters) - Stock markets in Australia and New Zealand jumped more than 2% on Tuesday, joining a global rally in equities overnight as investor risk appetite was boosted by promising developments toward a coronavirus vaccine.

The Australian benchmark index .AXJO hit its highest level since March 5, led by gains for travel, leisure and energy firms, while gold-related stocks plunged as investors dumped the safe-haven bullion in favour of riskier assets.

Global markets rallied sharply, with Wall Street's main indexes hitting record highs, after U.S. drugmaker Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) PFE.N and its German partner BioNTech BNTX.O said data from a large-scale trial of their vaccine showed it was more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19. with widespread distribution still months away the announcement effect will provide a consumer and business sentiment boost to be sure," RBC Capital Markets analysts said in a note.

"Whether people want to call that a 'V' recovery or not is, at this point, inconsequential – it is materially faster than most anyone appreciated," they said.

Travel firms Flight Centre Travel Group FLT.AX , Sydney Airport Holdings SYD.AX and Qantas Airways Ltd QAN.AX soared more than 10% each on the news.

Energy stocks .AXEJ , which have been among the worst affected by the coronavirus-related hit to demand, climbed over 8% as crude prices surged. O/R

Australia's top independent gas producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd WPL.AX gained 8% while Papua New Guinea-focused Oil Search OSH.AX surged 21%.

Real estate firms Scentre Group SCG.AX , GPT Group GPT.AX and Dexus DXS.AX gained between 8% and 15%.

Gold stocks .AXGD , however, slumped more than 7% in their worst session since May 27, following a steep fall in bullion prices. GOL/

Miners Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd SAR.AX , Northern Star Resources Ltd NST.AX and Evolution Mining EVN.AX were among the top percentage losers on the benchmark.

Tech shares .AXIJ fell 4%, dragged lower by a 6% decline in buy-now-pay-later heavyweight Afterpay Ltd APT.AX , which has soared so far this year due to increased online payment transactions during the pandemic.

Glove maker Ansell Ltd ANN.AX , which had benefited from a steep hike in demand this year, was on track for its worst day since March 31.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose as much as 2.2% to hit a fresh peak.

Vista Group International VGL.NZ , which develops software for the film industry, soared 20%, while carrier Air New Zealand AIR.NZ jumped 15%.

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