ASX closes at record high as financials rally
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished at a record high on Friday as almost every sector finished higher.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 closed the week up 1.07% to a record high of 7,847, with 10 out of 11 sectors finishing in green. The index also hit an intra-day high of 7,853.1.
Financials led the rally, up 2.03%, followed by healthcare (1.25%) and consumer staples (1.21%). The big four were all up with Westpac leading at 2.3%, followed by NAB (2.1%), Commonwealth Bank (1.55%) and ANZ (1.54%).
Virgin Money UK soared 32.74% following the announcement that UK’s Nationwide Building Society agreed to buy the company for £2.9 billion ($5.6 billion). It was the top performer across the index.
One of the few financial companies to fall was GQG, down 1.56%, after Pacific Current Group announced it sold its 4% stake in the investment boutique.
Magmatic Resources ended the day up 40% after it announced Fortescue would make a 20% cornerstone investment in the company. Meanwhile, Ramelius Resources finished the day 0.16% higher, after it confirmed that it was in talks with Canadian miner Karora over a “potential corporate transaction”.
The industrial sector was the only sector to fall, down 0.02%.
Hotly debated Cettire was one of the poorest performers, down 3.24%.
The context: The Australian sharemarket rally followed Wall Street’s gains that saw the S&P 500 close at a record high overnight. Investor optimism was buoyed by comments made by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell during the second day of his congressional testimony. Powell signalled that the central bank was "not far" from gaining enough confidence to "dial back the level of restriction" to make rate cuts possible.
Overnight the US will release its unemployment rate for February while China will release its CPI figures for February.
Next week will see Treasurer Jim Chalmers speaking at CEDA for a pre-Budget address.
