While Australians were trading stocks,US politicians were locked in late night discussions about passing the White House's trillion dollar package,which has struggled to get off the ground. As the Australian market closed,news from Washington DC that the package would pass on Tuesday morning boosted US futures.
Despite the modest rebound in the ASX from a 5.6 per cent fall on Monday,Morgan Stanley’s Australian wealth management research team said the key for a sustained recovery will be a resumption in normal economic activity.
“This means people need to get back to work. The sooner this happens,the better,” they said in a note.
“The best indicator remains the daily change in new COVID- 19 cases. Using China's example,people started to return to work after new cases peaked and social distancing measures were relaxed. Naturally,the longer this takes,the further back is the starting point for all affected economies.”
The number of new COVID-19 cases reported by Italian authorities to the World Health Organisation declined on Tuesday for the first time from 6557 to 5560,and the number of deaths per day declined from 795 to 649.
The gain in energy stocks on the ASX included a 20.6 per cent increase in Santos to $3.52,a 17.2 per cent increase in New Hope Corp and a 5.6 per cent increase in Woodside Petroleum.
The real estate sector was boosted by a 12 per cent rise in Goodman Group and 18 per cent gain in GPT.
Volatility continues to dominate with 35 stock prices moving more than 10 per cent. Credit Corp surged 46 per cent to close at $9.12 and Corporate Travel gained 31.3 per cent to $7.56. Afterpay also enjoyed a strong session,up 26 per cent to $11.21 after falling below $10 on Monday.
GrainCorp dragged on the consumer staples sector when it started trading for the first time since the United Malt demerger,falling 31 per cent. Meanwhile,Virgin Money dropped nearly 16 per cent as the UK,where it is based,implements tougher measures to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.
CSL lagged the rest of the market,closing 1.1 per cent higher at $285.35.
The financial sector had a positive day,the inverse from Tuesday's performance. Commonwealth Bank and ANZ gained more than 5 per cent,Macquarie Group gained 11 per cent. Afterpay retraced its steps back up to $11.21,a gain of 26 per cent.
The Australian dollar gained nearly 1 per cent during the day to be at US58.91¢.
In the Asian region,Japan's stock market surged 6.3 per cent after Softbank announced plans for a massive asset sale and share buy-back,while the Hang Seng was 3.6 per cent higher at the ASX closing bell.