The Australian equity market ended the session higher on Friday, May 20, 2022, as investors continued bottom fishing across the board after the previous day’s selloff and ahead of Saturday’s federal election.

Market risk sentiments rose after a larger-than-expected cut in China’s benchmark borrowing rate to support its economy instilled a note of optimism at the end of a volatile week. China on Friday cut its five-year prime lending rate (LPR) – which influences mortgage pricing – by 15 basis points, a bigger-than-expected cut, as authorities seek to cushion the impact of an economic downturn. He left the one-year LPR unchanged.

At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 jumped 81.18 points, or 1.15%, to 7,145.64.

The broader All Ordinaries index added 87.71 points, or 1.2%, to 7,391.04.

Tech stocks gained the most, with Block up 9.9% and Xero up 3.4%. Miners also saw broad-based gains, with IGO up 5.1% after an update relating to its lithium operations.

CURRENCY NEWS: The US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 102.913, falling from above 103.5 earlier this week. The Japanese yen changed hands at 127.97 to the dollar, while the Australian dollar was at $0.7045.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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