S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) closed up 44 points or 0.7% to 6,284 as concerns about US-China trade tensions eased.
US President Donald Trump hoped that the world's top two economies would be able to reach an agreement and described the nature of America's ongoing trade tension with China as a "little squabble".
However, the optimism was offset by weaker than expected Chinese retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment data for the month of April 2019.
In fact, China retail sales growth slowed to its lowest since 2003.
St Barbara to buy Atlantic Gold
St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) revealed plans to buy Canada’s Atlantic Gold Corp (CVE:AGB) in a deal worth C$802 million.
The company’s shares have been placed in a trading halt, as it plans to raise about $490 million in an entitlement offer to help fund the takeover.
— Australian Bureau of Statistics (@ABSStats) May 15, 2019
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Wage Price Index (WPI) rose 0.5% over the first three months of the year, the same growth as the December quarter, and slightly below the forecast of 0.6%.
ABS Chief Economist Bruce Hockman said: "Annual wages in seasonally adjusted terms grew 2.3% for the third quarter in a row.
“The main contributors to growth over the quarter were regularly scheduled wage rises in the Health care and social assistance and Education and training industries, as was the case in the previous March quarter."