ASX ends higher as gold miners rally
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The news: The Australian stock market finished the trading week strongly, led by the uplift in gold and copper prices causing miners to rally for a third consecutive day.
The benchmark ASX200 closed 1.23% higher or 105.3 points ending at 8,697.3 with eight of the 11 sectors finishing in the green.
Materials (+2.03%) was the best performing sector, with gold miners Newmont (+5.66%), Evolution Mining (+4.16%) and Northern Star (+2.86%) pushing the index higher. Meanwhile, technology (-0.46%) was the worst performing sector as Technology One (-1.63%), Megaport (-0.90%) and Catapult Sports (-2.99%) closed lower.
Biggest movers:
- Greatland Resources (+9.90%) — led a rally by gold stocks, with gold producers making up seven of the top 10 ASX 200 companies.
- Myer (+4.44%) — closed the day strong on the back of its strong sales growth and Morgan Stanley’s positive outlook.
- Austal (-2.96%) — ended as the worst performer on the ASX200 following Treasurer Jim Chalmers' decision to approve South Korean defence company Hanwha’s increased shareholding in the shipbuilder.
Other news:
- Nickel Industries (+2.65%) — extended its iron ore sales quota in its Indonesian subsidiary.
- ANZ (+1.19%) — legal action has commenced after former chief executive Shayne Elliot accused the bank of stealing his $13.5 million worth of bonuses.
- 4DMedical (+8.82%) — closed higher after securing a $30.2 million funding on its option agreement with Bell Porter.
- Dexus (-0.71%) — launched a new fund series with the acquisition of a 25% interest in Chermside Westfield for $683 million.
What’s ahead:
- New Zealand will publish its business services index on Monday (8:30am AEDT).
- China will publish its monthly new home prices, unemployment rate and retail sales data on Monday (12:30pm AEDT).
- Europe will publish its monthly industrial production on Monday (9:00pm AEDT).
