ASX makes gains, consumer gloom deepens over Omicron hit

From abc.net.au

The Australian share market has held onto its gains at lunchtime, while consumer confidence has been dented by the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. At 12:45pm AEDT, the All Ordinaries index rose 0.3 per cent to 7,763, while the ASX 200 index rose 0.2 per cent to 7,435. More sectors were higher than lower with consumer firms, technology stocks, and communication companies among the gainers. Miners recouped their losses, but financial stocks fell. Virgin Money (-2.7pc), bookmaker Pointsbet (-2.2pc), and buy-now-pay-later firm Zip (-2.2pc) fell the most on the ASX 200 index. Battery materials firm Novonix ... (full story)