ASX closes higher as CBA, NAB lead broad rally
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher as the country’s biggest lenders led a finance sector rally while most other sectors posted gains.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 1.00% to end at 8,826.5 with nine of the 11 sectors finishing in green.
The finance sector (+1.7%) was the best performing as Commonwealth Bank (+2.1%), NAB (+2%), Westpac (+2%) and ANZ (+1.3%) finished higher.
Biggest movers:
- Iress (+7%) – Appointed Andrew Russell as its new group CEO and managing director, effective 17 November.
- Xero (+4.9%) – Wilsons Advisory analysts said the accounting software provider is well placed to meet guidance in the short and medium term.
- Austal (+4.3%) – US Coast Guard has exercised options with Austal USA to approve the order of long lead time materials for three offshore patrol cutter (OPC) programs, valued at USD314 million ($480 million).
- Gold miners – The spot price of gold slipped throughout the day but remained near record highs above USD3,500 per ounce. Gold miners Bellevue Gold (-3.9%), Ramelius Resources (-1.8%) and Northern Star (-1.3%) took losses.
Other news:
- Mesoblast (+2.6%) – Entered USD50 million worth of convertible note subscription agreements with SurgCenter as well as other existing shareholders Gregory George and William Gueck.
- KMD (+2.3%) – The Rip Curl and Kathmandu owner unveiled its new transformation strategy, targeting a "minimum $25 million cost reset". The business held its 2025 investor day today.
- Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (+1.4%) – Executive chair Jack Cowin acquired an additional $5 million worth of shares.
- Inghams (+0.4%) – UBS analysts cut their 12-month price target on Australia's largest poultry producer from $3.65 to $2.80, warning that the company's "worst case scenario" is now playing out.
- Harvey Norman (+0.1%) and Latitude (0%) – The full federal court dismissed “barely arguable” appeals from the two companies following a judgement they engaged in misleading conduct and made false or misleading representations in relation to a national advertising campaign between 2020 and 2021.
- IAG (-0.4%) – The ACCC outlined preliminary competition concerns relating to IAG’s proposed $1.35 billion takeover of RAC Insurance from the Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia.
What’s ahead:
- Automatic Data Processing will release data on US non-farm employment change for August at 10:15pm.
- The US Department of Labor will release weekly data on unemployment claims tonight at 10:30pm.
- The Institute of Supply Management will release US services purchasing managers’ index data for August at midnight.
