Woolworths (ASX:WOW) store hit with Covid-19: Aus shares close 1.7% higher

The Australian share market rose at the open and continued to rally, closing 1.7 per cent up at the end of trade. In breaking news, Woolworths (ASX:WOW) has placed 50 employees from a Sydney store into quarantine after a worker tested positive for Covid-19.

Tuas (ASX:TUA) led the top 200 gains for the session, and Perenti Global (ASX:PRN) led the losses for the day.

The S&P/ASX200 index

At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 98 points higher to finish at 6,033.

Futures markets

Dow futures are suggesting a rise of 63 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a gain of 8 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a lift of 32 points.
The ASX200 futures are eyeing a 105 point rise tomorrow morning.

Broker moves

UBS has rated Telstra (ASX:TLS) as a Buy. The broker is factoring in a $600m uplift in mobile operating earnings over FY20-23 and believes its FY23 underlying estimate for operating earnings of $7.7bn should be sufficient to fund a $0.16 dividend, assuming a pay-out at the top end of the 70-90% range. Shares in Telstra (ASX:TLS) closed 1.6 per cent higher at $3.23.

Looking at some more headlines:

nib holdings (ASX:NHF) has confirmed its forecast capital position remains well ahead of regulatory requirements and internal targets.

Bigtincan Holdings (ASX:BTH) has signed a contract with Red Bull for a deployment of Bigtincan software with a total contract value of $1.8 million over 30 months.

Ioneer (ASX:INR) has entered into a 12 month employment agreement with their Chairman James Calaway.

Best and worst performers of the day

All sectors finished in the green. The best performing sector was Information Technology, adding 3.7 per cent, while the sector with the fewest gains was Materials, adding 0.6 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Tuas (ASX:TUA), rising 35.3 per cent to close at $0.69. Shares in Afterpay (ASX:APT) and Costa Group Holdings (ASX:CGC) followed.

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Perenti Global (ASX:PRN), dropping 5.1 per cent to close at $1.11 cents. Shares in NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH) and Ooh!Media (ASX:OML) followed lower.

Asian markets

All higher: Japan’s Nikkei has gained 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.6 per cent and the Shanghai Composite is 1.5 per cent up.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,767 an ounce.
The iron ore price lost 0.3 per cent to US$99.17.
Its futures are pointing to a rise of 0.4 per cent.
Light crude is US$0.13 up at US$40.05 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 69.29 US cents.

Source: Finance News Network