The Australian dollar has risen Thursday, trading at 71.78 US cents up from yesterday’s 71.27 US cents.

The local currency was at 71.60 US cents on Tuesday.

One Australian dollar buys 76.60 Japanese yen, up from yesterday’s 76.11 Japanese yen; 60.79 Euro cents up from 60.74 Euro cents; 54.96 British pence from 54.64 British pence; and 108.92 NZ cents from 108.84 NZ cents.

Yesterday, shares closed slightly lower on the Australian market after Commonwealth Bank’s virus-hit full-year result was a rare blight on the financial sector which led gains for a third consecutive day.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index closed lower by 6.7 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 6132.0 points on Wednesday.

The All Ordinaries index closed lower by 15.1 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 6257.0.

The Commonwealth Bank’s cash profit dived 11.3 per cent to $7.3 billion and showed the strain of the coronavirus pandemic for mortgage holders. 

Chief financial officer Alan Docherty said a loan impairment expense of $2.5 billion, more than double the previous, reduced the result.

The bank’s share price finished lower by 0.48 per cent to $74.34, but the financial sector was higher by 0.96 per cent.

ANZ jumped 1.95 per cent to $18.85, NAB gained 2.24 per cent to $18.28 and Westpac rose 2.31 per cent to $18.19.

QVG Capital portfolio manager Josh Clark said cyclicals such as banks were gaining from optimism in the US about a potential coronavirus vaccine.

“Any stock that has been beaten up is doing well today,” he said.

“Those companies that have been beaten up are the ones that stand to benefit most from a world that goes back to normal.”

There was a string of news that reminded investors Australian society was far from normal.

The nation recorded its deadliest day of the Covid-19 pandemic after 21 people died in Victoria. There were 410 new cases in the state, which is about to enter its second week of stage four restrictions.

The troubles of the economy were underlined by record low wages growth in the June quarter.

The June quarter wage price index grew just 0.2 per cent, the slowest rate since the Australian Bureau of Statistics began collecting the data in 1997.

Meanwhile the monthly Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index – a pointer to future retail spending – fell 9.5 per cent in August.

It is close to the low of 75.6 points in April, when Australia entered lockdown due to the virus.

The big miners were a drag on the ASX, pulled down by lower base metal and gold prices.

The materials sector fell heaviest, down 1.62 per cent.

BHP was lower by 0.72 per cent to $39.91, Rio Tinto lost 1.35 per cent to $101.40 and Fortescue was down 1.36 per cent to $18.13.

Online recruiter Seek fell 8.63 per cent to $19.58 after reporting a full-year loss of $111.7 million.

Many businesses have limited hiring during the pandemic. Seek did not pay a dividend. 

Biotech Mesoblast had a second consecutive day of heavy falls, down 8.63 per cent to $3.07, ahead of its meeting this week with US government officials for the approval of a therapy.

In industrials, Transurban said chief financial officer Adam Watson has resigned and will leave in November for another listed company.

Shares finished lower by 1.08 per cent to $13.78.

The day’s trade followed a weak lead from the US. The S&P 500 and Dow snapped a seven-day streak of gains amid growing uncertainty about a fiscal stimulus deal.

The declines came after US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said White House negotiators had not spoken on Tuesday with Democratic leaders in the US Congress on coronavirus aid legislation after talks broke down last week.

Investors have been hoping politicians will agree on more relief to support about 30 million unemployed Americans in a virus-stricken economy.