ASX gains as telcos rally
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended higher following gains from Wall Street along with a rally in the telecommunications sector.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 gained 0.86% to end at 7,829.7, with all sectors finishing in green.
The best performing sector was telecommunications services, up 1.39%, followed by financials (1.35%). Telstra led the telco rally, up 2.6%, after announcing it would increase prices on postpaid and prepaid mobile plans.
GQG gained 1.75% after Goldman Sachs and Macquarie analysts lifted their estimates and price targets on the fund manager.
Monadelphous ended 2.38% higher after announcing that it had been awarded a long-term maintenance and minor construction services contract with Shell Australia.
IGO also lifted (1.75%) despite Bell Potter analysts downgrading its recommendation for the miner to ‘sell’ due to lower lithium prices and negative market sentiment.
The worst performing sector was energy, up 0.15%, followed by consumer staples (0.33%).
Newly-listed Guzman y Gomez fell 3.88% despite receiving another bullish outlook, this time from Wilsons Advisory, that initiated coverage on the company with an ‘overweight’ rating.
Meanwhile, Bapcor ended the day 0.2% lower after a volatile trading day following an announcement that it had rejected a takeover bid from Bain Capital. The company al so announced that it had appointed current 7-Eleven Australia boss Angus McKay as its new CEO and executive chair.
The context: All eyes will be on US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell overnight as he will testify at the Senate Banking Committee and may give clues as to the central bank’s next interest rate decision.
Wednesday will see the Australian Bureau of Statistics release its latest business turnover figures.
