ASX ends week higher as miners jump
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The news: Strength in mining stocks helped the Australian sharemarket finish the week on a high.
The numbers: The ASX 200 closed at 7,658.3, up 0.69%, with 10 sectors finishing in green.
The materials sector gained the most, up 1.5%, followed by energy (0.99%) and IT (0.69%). Most of the larger miners made gains including BHP (0.97%), Fortescue (1.14%), Rio Tinto (1.23%) and Northern Star Resources (3.05%).
However, the leaderboard was dominated by lithium miners and explorers including Liontown Resources (11.91%), Core Lithium (9.52%), Sayona Mining (7.84%) and IGO (8.71%).
Nickel Industries edged into the top five, up 7.03%, as Resources Minister Madeleine King added nickel to the Critical Minerals list, giving miners access to a $4 billion fund.
The only losing sector was consumer staples, down 0.39%. Inghams was one of the worst performers, down 12.5%, despite posting a lift in profit and dividends for the first half of the financial year. The company said it expected growth to slow during the second half due to inflationary headwinds across labour, feed and energy.
The worst-performing stock was Neuren Pharmaceuticals (14.19%), which tanked following reports from US short-seller Culper that its partner Acadia Pharmaceuticals misrepresented the safety profile of a drug. Neuren rejected Culper's claims.
The Australian dollar is lower, buying 65.18 US cents.
The context: Next week will see both the Reserve Bank of Australia and US Federal Reserve post their respective monetary policy minutes.
Meanwhile, earnings season continues with Ampol, Bendigo & Adelaide Bank, Bluescope Steel, Cochlear, Lendlease, Westpac, BHP, Megapore, Perpetual, Sonic Healthcare, Charter Hall, Domino’s NAB, Rio Tinto, Santos, Wisetech, Woolworths, Fortescue, Qantas, Nine, and Brambles posting results next week.
