Australia stocks ended higher at the close of trade on Thursday. Gains in the Healthcare, A-REITs and Telecoms Services sectors helped increase shares.
The S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.28% at the close in Sydney. The session’s best performer was Inghams Group Ltd. It rose 16.14% or 0.46 points to trade at 3.31 at the close.
Meanwhile, Iress Ltd added 7.18% or 0.66 points to end at 9.85. Moreover, in late trade, Flight Centre Ltd was up 6.88% or 0.89 points to 13.82.
On the other hand, the worst performers of the session included Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. It fell 8.19% or 0.710 points to trade at 7.960 at the close.
Furthermore, Pendal Group Ltd declined 5.99% or 0.38 points to end at 5.96. CSR Ltd was down 5.02% or 0.250 points to 4.730.
On the Sydney Stock Exchange, rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by 743 to 464 and 343 ended unchanged.
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd lost 8.19% or 0.710 to 7.960, falling to 3-years lows.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX was down 11.28% to 19.468. It is what measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options.
EU Stock Futures Up; U.S. Gridlock Appeals
Meanwhile, European stock markets were opening higher on Thursday. The race for the White House is still uncertain but investors seem to embrace the upside of likely U.S. policy gridlock.
The DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.8% higher at 3:05 AM ET (0705 GMT). The CAC 40 futures in France rose 0.2% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. climbed 0.4%.
A cloud of uncertainty still hovered around the fate of the U.S. presidency early Thursday. Democrat challenger Joe Biden appears to be slightly ahead in two critical Midwestern states that could tip the election in his favor.
This has prompted Republican candidate and incumbent president Donald Trump to file lawsuits and demand recounts.
With that, even if former Vice President Biden wins the presidency, the prospects of the Democrats taking the Senate faded. This points to further deadlock with similar policies to those that saw strong stock market gains since COVID-19 hit in March.
