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Headline indices of the Australian financial market advanced on Thursday, 13 December 2018, as investors continued bargain hunting in recently battered stocks after a series of positive developments in U.S.-China trade talks. Meanwhile buying momentum spirited after British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote. ASX sectors were higher, with materials, energy, and financials issues were notable gainers. In late afternoon trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 21.80 points, or 0.4%, to 5,675.30 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 20.90 points, or 0.36%, to 5,748.20 points.

The risk appetite buying underpinned as China appeared to be taking more steps to meet US demands to open its markets. While trade tensions have appeared to ease, Trump administration officials on Wednesday signaled that Beijing will have to do more to end the tariff war. Both Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David Malpass called on China to agree on timelines, deadlines and enforceable actions to balance trade and open their markets to foreign companies.

Chinese state-owned companies have bought more than 1.5 million tonnes of US soybeans, in the first major US soybean purchases in more than six months. The purchases are the most concrete evidence yet that China is making good on pledges made when Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met on 1 December 2018 and agreed to a 90-day detente to negotiate a trade deal. China also reduced import tariffs on American-made cars from 40% to 15%.

China also appears to be toning down its high-tech industrial development push, dubbed Made in China 2025, which has long irked the United States, according to new guidance to local governments. Beijing plans to replace the Made in China 2025 initiative with a new one to play down China's bid to dominate manufacturing and will seek to be more open to participation by foreign companies. But it remains to be seen if Beijing will meet Washington's demands for stronger protection for US intellectual property.

In the U.K., May won a vote of confidence in her leadership of the Conservative Party, with Tory members of Parliament backing her by 200 to 117 in the secret ballot. Despite that settling doubts over her immediate future, it is likely to be only a temporary reprieve for the embattled premier who is facing hardened opposition in Parliament to the Brexit agreement she negotiated with the European Union, and her attempts to get better terms have so far fallen flat.

Shares of telco sector continued to drag on the indices as the ACCC threw doubt on TPG and Vodafone Australia's proposed merger into a single $15 billion company, fearing the move could mean higher mobile prices for consumers. TPG shares were 14.5% lower, while Hutchison Telecommunications - which owns a 50% stake in Vodafone Australia - was 21.4% lower. Benchmark Telstra lost 2.2%..

Shares of materials and resources were higher, on higher iron ore prices. Major miners BHP climbed 1.6% and Rio Tinto was up 1.4%. Fortescue Metals climbed 1.3%, while Bluescope Steel lost 0.3%.

Financial stocks moved up with the Big Four banks - the top lenders - all strengthening, with ANZ the best of the big four banks, gaining 1.2%, while Westpac had the weakest gain driven by Wednesday's first strike from shareholders against executive pay, up 0.3%.

Among individual stocks, Hutchison Telecommunication shares plunged 18%, while that of TPG Telecom fell by nearly 17% as the two companies announced plans to merge in August this year, but the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Thursday released a statement expressing concerns about the proposal.

CURRENCY: Australian Dollar, seen as a proxy for China-related trades, edged up against greenback on Thursday. The Australian dollar was quoted at 72.18 US cents, up from 72.13 US cents on Wednesday.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS: US share market closed higher on Wednesday, extending a recent stretch of volatility as signs of easing trade tensions boosted the outlook for global economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 157.03 points, or 0.6%, to end at 24,527.27, while the S&P 500 index advanced 14.29 points, or 0.5%, to 2,651.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 66.48 points, or 1%, to 7,098.31.

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