ASX higher as real estate stocks gain
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The news: The Australian sharemarket started the week higher as investors cheered an improving outlook for US inflation following fresh data over the weekend.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 finished 0.79% higher at 7,788.3, with 10 out of 11 sectors finishing in green.
The best-performing sector was real estate (1.8%), followed by telecommunication services (1.36%) and consumer staples (1.33%). Lendlease led real estate gains, up 8.15% after announcing its plan to offload $4.5 billion in assets along with cost cuts and a $500 million share buyback.
The best-performing stock was Neuren Pharmaceuticals which soared 15.74% after encouraging results from its drug candidate to treat neurological disorders.
HMC Capital gained 5.2% after completing a $100 million institutional placement to fund its acquisition of fund manager Payton Capital.
Ingenia Communities ended 4.03% higher after announcing that it was on track to deliver at the upper end of its guidance range for the 2024 financial year.
Telix Pharmaceuticals was up 2.26% after it announced that it submitted a new US drug application for its prostate cancer imaging kit.
Meanwhile, Cettire soared 10.5% after it rejected claims that it sold fake goods.
The worst-performing sector was energy (-0.22%), followed by utilities (0.27%) and healthcare (0.38%). Woodside (0.75%) and Beach Energy (-0.3%) both fell.
Healius fell 1.14% after flagging the sale of its Lumus Imaging business.
The Australian dollar is higher, buying 66.32 US cents.
The context: This week will see the Australian Bureau of Statistics release the latest CPI figures while US core personal consumption expenditure will also be released.
