ASX firms 1.1pc as travel stocks fly on reprieve from oil rally

Listed travel agents and Qantas Airways rallied on Thursday as the price of crude oil tumbled more than 10 per cent overnight, providing a brief respite from the crippling rally in jet fuel, and lifting Australian shares.P/ASX 200 Index added 1.1 per cent, or 77.8 points, to 7130.8 points. The All Ordinaries also rose 1.1 per cent to 7410.9.

Brent oil fell 12.4 per cent to $US112.14 a barrel, and WTI dropped 11.4 per cent to $US109.59 a barrel. “The market fundamentals continue to point upside risk to prices though despite the pull back,” warned National Australia Bank.triggered by the United Arab Emirates formally endorsing higher crude oil output. “We favour production increases and will be encouraging OPEC to consider higher production levels,” ambassador Yousuf Al Otaiba said via the UAE Embassy in Washington’s social media.

Oil’s plunge was also supported by Ukraine’s insistence that it is open to resolving the conflict with Russia.Qantas added 5.8 per cent to $4.93, Flight Centre Travel Group firmed 6.6 per cent to $18.87, Corporate Travel Management rose 5.5 per cent to $22.22, and Webjet climbed 5.8 per cent to $5.63.P Global Platts said.Rio Tinto shares traded without the right to its $6.628 final dividend; the stock fell 7.7 per cent to $110.61. Rio’s dividend will be paid on April 21.

BHP Group and Fortescue Metals Group fell 1.5 per cent to $47.75 and 3.3 per cent to $18.20 respectively. Fortescue Future Industries recruitedas its chief financial officer. Fortescue Future Industries is developing the world’s first zero-emissions train, truck, and ship engines. Nickel Mines dropped 13.2 per cent to $1.22. On Wednesday, Nickel Mines was forced to halt trading briefly pending a statement to the market that its major shareholder, Tsingshang Group, had no intention of selling any Nickel Mines shares after the Chinese company was caught up in the LME nickel squeeze.. In the first five weeks of the second half, it posted a 15.2 per cent gain in sales; online sales surged by 48.6 per cent.

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