ASX higher as real estate and tech lead
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The news: The Australian sharemarket has started the week higher with AREITs and IT leading the market.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 closed up 0.81% to 7,637.4, with all 11 sectors finishing in green.
The best performing sector was AREITs, up 1.69%, followed by IT (1.68%), and telecommunication services (1.33%). Stockland finished up 2.08% after it announced it had maintained its full-year earnings guidance after a steady March quarter.
One of the best performing stocks across the ASX 200 was Boss Energy, up 8.9%, after the minerals explorer flagged that it was now in the ramp-up stage of its uranium project.
The Star Entertainment group was also one of the best performers, up 7.05%, after the troubled casino’s board ousted its chair David Foster and elected director Anne Ward as its new chair.
Liontown finished 6.92% higher after it flagged that its first production for its Kathleen Valley Lithium project was on schedule to begin first production in mid-2024.
TPG gained 5.3% after investors cheered the announcement that it had signed a $1.2 billion regional network sharing deal with Optus.
Perpetual ended the trading day 3.09% higher after it confirmed that it had entered into exclusive talks with KKR over the potential acquisition of Perpetual's corporate trust and wealth management businesses.
Elsewhere, Namoi Cotton gained 5% after French agri commodities giant Louis Dreyfus Company lifted its bid for the company.
Meanwhile, Adore Beauty gained 4.39% after the company announced that its CEO would step down for personal reasons.
The worst performing sector was energy, up 0.01%, followed by consumer staples (0.44%) and utilities (0.5%). Large energy companies Woodside (-0.39%), Santos (-1.17%) and Ampol (-0.99%) all fell.
The worst performer across the ASX 200 was Megaport, down 1.68%, despite upgrading its full-year earnings guidance.
Gold stocks including Newmont (-1.69%), Gold Road Resources (-1.35%) and Northern Star (-0.66%) fell as gold prices dropped as investors are expecting the US Federal Reserve to delay interest rate cuts.
The Australian dollar is higher buying 65.67 US cents.
The context: The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the latest retail trade figures on Tuesday.
Offshore, the latest China purchasing managers index figures along with the US employment cost index will be released on Tuesday.
