Market gains on oil price fall, travel stocks jump, Magellan rallies on buyback

The tanking oil price has offered relief to the share market but will likely take some time to spread into the price of fuel, with the S&P/ASX200 gaining 1.1 per cent on Wednesday.

The rally was widespread with every sector finishing higher but energy naturally the worst, gaining just 0.2 per cent.

Hopes that interest rates will rise more slowly than expected this week supported the technology sector which gained 3.6 per cent behind a 6.9 per cent increase in Block (ASX: SQ2).

The consumer sectors were also well supported, with both discretionary and non-discretionary groups adding 1.9 per cent.

The trigger was the announcement that New Zealand will open its border to Australian tourists sooner than expected, with the likes of Corporate Travel (ASX: CTD) and Qantas (ASX: QAN) gaining 5.3 and 2.2 per cent each.

This comes after the ABS announced that 272,000 tourists entered Australia in February the highest since before March 2020.

Shares in takeover target Uniti Wireless (ASX: UWL) were 1.3 per cent lower despite JP Morgan suggesting this could be the beginning of a bidding war.

The hope of a return of tourists also boosted retail property with Vicinity (ASX:VCX) gaining 2.8 per cent.

Small battery players gain on grants, Suncorp increases loss estimates, EML expands in Europe

Shares in Magellan were close to 4 per cent higher following the commencement of an on-market buyback for 10 million shares.

The decision is typically reflective of a board seeking to both support the share price but also seeing shares in their own company as undervalued and hence a sound use of capital.

Smaller battery mineral players including Australian Vanadium (ASX: AVL) and Arafura (ASX: ARU) gained 40 and 15 per cent respectively after the Federal Government announced $243 million in grants to companies with projects that would support Australia’s priority to become a leader in battery technology amid a boom in electric vehicles.

Suncorp (ASX: SUN) shares gained slightly despite increasing their estimate of natural disaster costs to $1.1 billion with management highlighting the benefits of digital processing of claims and the ability to make good more quickly.

The group has received more than 34,000 claims as of 14 March.

EML Payments (ASX: EML) gained 2.6 per cent after signing a multi-year deal to expand into employee benefits management in Europe and whilst the agreement is not material management highlighted this as an important starting point for their expansion.

Fed raises rates, Chinese market surges, Alibaba, JD.com jump

Ahead of the Federal Reserve decision the Chinese market jumped more than 12 per cent in Wednesday’s session after the government announced wide-ranging support for the market and economy.

In a wide-ranging release they indicated the crackdown on big tech would be coming to an end, along with property taxes and that progress had been made on ensuring the future of companies listed on US stock exchanges.

The result was a 27 per cent jump in Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), a 15 per cent increase in JD.com (HKG: 9618) and more than 50 per cent from Pinduoduo (NASDA: PDD).

It marks a stark turnaround from the 24 per cent fall for the market in March alone.

Turning to the US and all three benchmarks were stronger with the Nasdaq gaining 3.7 per cent despite the Federal Reserve making the well-flagged decision to hike the cash rate by 0.25 per cent.

They now predict seven more increases despite the impending threat of an oil price-driven recession.

The S&P500 and Dow Jones also gained, adding 2.2 and 1.6 per cent.

In further positive news, the fourth round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia appeared to be making progress offer another potential catalyst.

Drew Meredith

Drew is publisher of the Inside Network's mastheads and a principal adviser at Wattle Partners.