ASX lifts to close out best month since January

The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher on Thursday to round out its best month since January. The benchmark ASX 200 gained nearly three quarters of a percent, after a muted session on Wall Street, after better than expected GDP figures clashed with hawkish rhetoric from a US Federal Reserve official.

The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 lifted 0.74% on Thursday to 7,087.30, or 4.64% higher than a month ago. The Aussie dollar has made a higher low against the greenback and is buying 66.3 US cents. By sector, only utilities (-1.0%), energy (-0.3%) and real estate (-0.5%) stocks finished in the red, while industrials (+1.4%), IT (1.3%) and financial (+1.2%) stocks led the gains.

The context: All eyes are on the upcoming OPEC+ meeting tonight, after three days of oil price gains ahead of a potential decision by oil producing nations to deepen or lengthen supply cuts after weeks of slumping prices. Brent crude futures are trading at roughly USD82.95 a barrel and USD77.98 for its West Texas equivalent. US unemployment claims and personal consumption data are due overnight, and Premier Investments will hold its AGM tomorrow.