ASX gains on easing trade war; PolyNovo surges

The news: The Australian sharemarket rallied for a fifth day as gains tracked US markets following the de-escalation of the trade war between the US and China.

The ASX 200 gained 0.43% to end at 8,269 with six out of 11 sectors finishing in green. The tech (+3.36%) sector was the best performing as it tracked a strong rally from the tech-heavy Nasdaq that gained 4.35%.

Biggest movers:

• PolyNovo (+14.38%) — Announced positive results in its Novosorb BTM device for the treatment and management of type-1 diabetes.
• Life360 (+13.96%) — Reported a jump in its monthly user numbers and record revenue in the first quarter, ahead of market expectations.
• Gold stocks — Demand for the safe-haven metal fell as the US and China temporarily removed tariffs on each other’s goods. Gold miners made up the bottom 12 performing stocks across the ASX 200. Genesis Minerals (-10.71%), Capricorn Metals (-9.77%) and Westgold Resources (-8.13%) bore the brunt of the selloff.

Other news:

• US-exposed stocks — Corporate Travel (+9.94%), Zip (+8.77%) Alcoa (+7.72%) and Breville (+7.76%) all rallied following the easing of the trade war.
• Ampol (+2.17%) — Announced that it will divest its New Zealand and Australian retail electricity businesses. New Zealand businesses Z Energy and Flick Energy will be sold to Meridian Energy (-2.36%) while Australian business Ampol Energy Retail will be sold to AGL (-2.37%).
• Abacus Storage King (+1.67%) — Rejected a joint takeover bid from South Africa’s Ki Corporation and US-listed Public Storage saying the proposal does not reflect compelling value.