Yahoo Finance ASX climbs as Wall St resets record
The Australian sharemarket extended its gains on Thursday, taking its lead from a record-breaking tech dominated rally on Wall Street.
On the local benchmark, all 11 of the S&P200’s industry sectors finished in the green, with the index adding 0.7 per cent, or 52.8 points, to reach 7821.8. The broader All Ordinaries added a similar amount to 8074.3.
The Australian dollar finished higher, buying US66.59c against the greenback at 5pm.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P500 and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite reset their record highs, up 1.2 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively. The Dow added 0.2 per cent.
Bond markets also reacted to an easing of interest rates by the Bank of Canada overnight with the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note slipping below 4.3 per cent – its lowest level since March.
Money markets are fully priced for two rate cuts by the Federal Reserve before year’s end.
Inspired by a rally on the Nasdaq, techs stocks led the benchmark, adding 1.4 per cent. Wisetech added 2.8 per cent to $100.22, Xero climbed 1.8 per cent to $128.20, and NextDc rose 1.1 per cent to $17.89.
The rally was also propelled by financials, up 1 per cent. Leading the big four banks, was CBA up 1.1 per cent to $124.85. NAB added 0.6 per cent to $35, Westpac climbed 0.8 per cent to $26.97, and ANZ rose 1 per cent to $29.06.
“Financials are causing a lot of grief for the analyst community out there – they’ve very, very narrowly fallen short of reclaiming that pre-GFC high,” IG Australia market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
“Were they closed, we could still do it over the next day or so.”
Materials stocks also advanced as iron ore futures rebounded from six-month lows to trade at $US108.95 a tonne. Sector heavyweights were mixed with BHP up 0.3 per cent to $44.05, while Fortescue was off 0.3 per cent to $24.06, and Rio Tinto fell 0.9 per cent to $124.51.
Even as Brent Crude edged higher to $US79 a barrel, energy stocks were flat. While Woodside dipped 0.1 per cent to $27.11, Santos climbed 0.3 per cent to $7.52.
In corporate news, IDP Education dived 7.5 per cent to $14.51 to be among the worst performers. Confirmed in Wednesday’s national accounts figures, the federal government’s clampdown on international student arrivals would have a large reduction on its business, the company warned.
Auckland-based casino operator SkyCity plunged 13.7 per cent to $1.39 after it cut its guidance to between $NZ120 million to $NZ125m on weaker-than-expected earnings and suspended its dividends due to the “ongoing challenging economic environment impacting customer spend”.
Fund manager Magellan advanced 1.3 per cent to $8.45 after it announced funds under management had climbed to $35.7bn, up $400m.
