ASX closes at record high
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The news: The Australian sharemarket has closed at a record high, tracking Wall Street gains on Friday as financials rallied.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.27% to end at 8,121.6, with seven out of 11 sectors finishing in green. The index also hit an intraday high of 8,144.7.
The best performing sector was telecommunications services, up 1.08%, followed by financials (0.95%). The big four banks Westpac (1.99%), NAB (1.23%), Commonwealth Bank (0.76%) and ANZ (0.32%) all rallied.
Alcoa Corporation was the best performing stock across the ASX 200 as its shares jumped 5.78% on news that it had agreed to sell a 25.1% stake in its joint venture with Saudi Arabian mining company Ma’aden back to its partner.
Elsewhere, Austal shares surged 17.86% after it announced that its US business has been awarded a $670 million contract to expand the US Navy’s submarine production.
Synlait Milk shares rose 1.25% after the embattled New Zealand dairy producer secured a NZD450 million ($414 million) bank debt refinancing deal ahead of a shareholder meeting on its recapitalisation plan.
Meanwhile, Auckland Airport has announced a $1.3 billion equity raise to fund a capital investment programme, including the construction and delivery of a new domestic jet terminal. Its shares are currently in a trading halt while RBC Capital Markets analysts raised their price target on the stock by 2.9%.
The worst performing sector was healthcare, down 1.06%, followed by utilities (-1.03%).
Emerald Resources was one of the worst stocks across the ASX 200 as its shares tumbled 5.39% after it announced that a "minor wall slip" at its wholly owned Okvau gold mine in Cambodia would be impacted for 21 days.
Westgold Resources shares fell 3.47% after it outlined plans for higher production in FY25. The gold miner also announced that it would double its exploration spend for the current fiscal year.
Mineral Resources dropped 0.37% lower after the mining group released initial gas and oil resource estimates for its Lockyer gas project and Erregulla oil project in Western Australia's Perth Basin. E&P Capital analysts noted that they believed the company was actively exploring a sale of its energy business".
Meanwhile, HUB24 edged 0.25% lower despite Morgan Stanley analysts hiking its price target on the stock by almost 10% as they believe the wealth platform will continue to grow their market share.
The Australian dollar is buying 67.27 US cents.
The context: Tuesday will see New Hope Corporation release its full-year result while Webjet will hold its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to vote on the demerger of Webjet Group and Webjet.
