Markets live, Friday December 3, 2021

Banks and energy helped to keep the Australian share market in positive territory on Friday, closing up 0.22 per cent on Friday despite TPG’s heavy losses.

Overall, the index is down 0.52 per cent for the week, though up 9.93 per cent since the beginning of this year.

Commenting on the soft uptick today, AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said: “The market’s trying to work out what Omicron means.“

Investors are unsure whether the new coronavirus variant may signal a return to lockdowns, or whether it could mean the end of the COVID-19 crisis, he added.

“Even if we don’t have more lockdowns, people would behave fairly cautiously and be reluctant to go out,” Mr Oliver said.

“In between those two scenarios – it’s a huge range. The market’s trying to grapple with which way it’s going to go. At this stage, it’s too early to tell.“

The biggest loser of the day was telco giant TPG, which continued its losses throughout the day after chairman David Teoh reduced his stake in the company. Its share price dropped 8.61 per cent to $6.05.

Mr Teoh has entered into an agreement to sell roughly 53 million ordinary shares, a move that comes eight months after he stepped down from TPG’s board. Mr Teoh founded TPG Telecom, which merged with Vodafone last year.

Online consumer platforms Kogan and Redbubble also fared poorly, ending the day down 4.22 per cent and 3.75 per cent, while electronics manufacturer Codan was the second-worst performer of the day at 4.7 per cent in the red.

On the other hand, the energy, material and financial sectors did well today with energy rising 1.6 per cent and the financial sector up 1 per cent. Healthcare imaging provider Pro Medicus was the ASX200’s best performer, up 3.79 per cent.

Investment company Washington H. Soul Pattinson wasn’t far behind with its share price rising 3.34 per cent for the day. Corporate Travel Management rose by 3.09 per cent.