Australian Stock Report Market Wrap Up: Local shares eke out some gains

SYDNEY - 21 December 2015: Despite very bearish leads from Friday night, the Aussie market managed to eke some gains today.

“The local bourse pared its mid-session losses to end the day marginally above the 5100 mark which has, over the past three sessions, developed as an increasingly key level,” said Chris Conway, Head of Research at Australian Stock Report.

According to Conway, “Strength in the financials, energy, materials and consumer discretionary sectors was enough to overcome the drag from healthcare, I.T, telcos and utilities.”

The big four banks were mainly stronger, with Westpac (WBC) the only loser of the lot, shedding 0.1%. Elsewhere, ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) was up 1.2%, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) 0.4% and National Australia Bank (NAB) 0.1%.

The miners were the biggest gainers as the sector added 1.3%. BHP Billiton (BHP) added 1.5%, Rio Tinto (RIO) put on 1% and little brother Fortescue (FMG) advanced 2.6%.

Among the energy players, Santos (STO) was the biggest mover in the space, jumping 4.1%.Woodside (WPL) added 1.4%, while Oil Search (OSH) gained 1.2%.

In other news, Crown (CWN) rose 4.1% after James Packer stepped down as a director, amid talk he's thinking of taking the company private.

Vitamin manufacturer Blackmores (BKL) also continued their relentless rally, hitting a new intraday high of $220 and closing up 5%.

On the day, the ASX 200 added a mere 2.3 points (<0.1%) to settle at 5109-off the day's low of 5077.

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