ASX 200 — and CBA — reset record highs
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The news: The Australian sharemarket hit its highest ever close, buoyed by the finance sector and lithium miners amid optimism about US-China tariffs and trade controls as officials enter a second day of talks in London.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.84% to end at 8587.2, topping the previous record of 8555.8 on 14 February. Ten of the 11 sectors finished in the green.
Biggest movers:
- Big banks – Commonwealth Bank (+1.2%) reached a new record closing high of $182. Large gains were also posted by Westpac (+1%), ANZ (+1.1%) and NAB (+1.5%).
- Gold miners – Eight of the top 10 worst performers on the ASX 200 were gold miners as demand for the haven-asset fell on hopes for relief from US-China trade tensions. Losses were led by West African Resources (-4.6%), Vault Minerals (-4.6%), and Evolution Mining (-3.8%).
- Lithium miners – Producers of the critical mineral were among the biggest gainers on the ASX 200, led by Pilbara Minerals (+5.5%) and Mineral Resources (+5.1%).
- Zip Co (+6.4%) – Was the top performing stock despite no company-specific news.
- NextDC (+5.2%) – The data centre operator said recent contract wins had led to a 7% increase in contracted data centre utilisation, primarily through its KL1 site in Kuala Lumpur.
- Monash IVF (-26.9%) – The fertility clinic provider said it mistakenly transferred a patient’s own embryo back to themself, instead of their partner's embryo — the second mix-up it has revealed this year.
Executive and board moves:
- Metcash (+3.5%) – Total Tools chief executive Richard Murray will leave the company as Metcash consolidates the Total Tools business and its Independent Hardware Group.
- CSL (+0.9%) – Retiring Future Fund general counsel and chief risk officer Cameron Price will join the board of the biotechnology company from 1 October.
- Westpac (+1%) – Westpac New Zealand and A2 Milk chair Philippa Greenwood has joined the bank's board.
- Perseus (-2%) – Chief operating officer Amanda Weir has resigned. General manager of operations Brett Hartmann will assume interim responsibilities.
Other news:
- Austal (+7.3%) – The shipbuilder is seeking clarification regarding South Korean conglomerate Hanwha’s notice that it has received a greenlight from a US regulator to increase its shareholdings in the ASX-listed company.
- Johns Lyng – Entered a trading halt amid reports of a takeover offer from Pacific Equity Partners.
- Rio Tinto (-0.4%) – The mining giant paused work at Panel 1 of its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia to engage with Canadian miner Entrée Resources and the Mongolian government over licensing arrangements.
- Coronado Global Resources (-8.1%) – Queensland state-owned electricity provider Stanwell Corporation will provide USD150 million ($230 million) worth of near-term liquidity in exchange for thermal coal.
What’s ahead:
- The Bank of Japan will release producer price index data for May tomorrow at 9:30am.
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release quarterly estimates of national accounts data, including gross domestic product, consumption, investment, income and saving tomorrow at 11:30am AEST.
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics will also release quarterly data on industrial disputes at the same time.
