Johnson & Johnson pauses COVID-19 vaccine trials Impasse in U.S....

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    • Johnson & Johnson pauses COVID-19 vaccine trials
    • Impasse in U.S. fiscal aid package talks sours sentiment
    • Lower oil prices hurt Australian energy stocks

    (Updates to close)

    Australian shares closed lower on Wednesday, with heavy selling in financial and energy stocks, as halted COVID-19 vaccine trials and an elusive U.S. coronavirus relief package dented risk appetite.

    The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) slipped 0.3% to 6,179.20 at the close of trade. The benchmark closed 1% higher on Tuesday.

    Global markets took cue as major indexes on Wall Street closed the previous session in the red, after COVID-19 vaccine trials were paused by Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N due to an unexplained illness in a study participant.

    Diminishing hopes for the passage of a U.S. coronavirus relief bill also added to the gloom after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected the $1.8 trillion proposal from the White House.

    "It's (U.S. stimulus) become a fairly politically charged event, and I'm not sure that the Democrats are going to give Mr. Trump a free kick and pass anything stimulus wise for the next 20 days," said Damian Rooney, director of equity sales at Argonaut.

    The heavyweight financial sector .AXFJ stocks finished about 1% lower, with the so-called "Big Four" banks closing in the red.

    "Few brokers are starting to look at the banking sector after its big run, so I think there's a few profit takers there," Henry Jennings, a senior analyst and portfolio manager at Marcustoday said.

    Energy stocks .AXEJ slid 0.9% at close, after oil prices slipped, with Woodside Petroleum (WPL) easing 1.2% and Oil Search losing 1.7%.

    Limiting losses, the healthcare sector .AXHJ advanced 1.3%, with the help of CSL Ltd's (CSL) 1.4% gain and Sonic Healthcare (SHL) closing 2.3% firmer.

    CSL lifted its FY2021 net profit to be between $2.17 bln and $2.27 bln at constant currency, compared with its initial forecast of $2.10 bln to $2.27 bln

    Meanwhile, Sonic Healthcare marked its highest close after reporting first-quarter core earnings of A$580 million, up from A$340 million last year.

    In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) rose 0.72% to yet another closing high of 12,543.61.

    Top gainers were Mainfreight Ltd (MFT) , up 5.77%, followed by EBOS Group Ltd (EBO) , gaining 3.46%.

 
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