ASX rallies as Macquarie, CBA surge
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The news: The Australian sharemarket rallied as the financial sector jumped following strong US bank earnings.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 1.38% to end at 8,327, with all 11 sectors finishing in green.
Biggest winners:
- Neuren Pharmaceuticals (11.54%) — Recouped all losses from Wednesday’s selloff after it finished as the worst performer across the ASX 200. It announced that its US partner Acadia Pharmaceuticals applied for approval to market its Rett syndrome treatment in the European Union.
- Zip (9.96%) — Its US competitor Sezzle upgraded its revenue guidance overnight and Citi analysts expect Zip’s second quarter to benefit from a weaker Australian dollar.
- Corporate Travel Management (6.84%) — Morgan Stanley added the company along with Life360 (2.55%) to its ‘key ideas’ list as its analysts have strong conviction in their earnings.
- Financial sector (2.56%) — Was the best performing sector with Macquarie Group (3.19%), Commonwealth Bank (2.96%), NAB (2.81%), ANZ (2.71%), and Westpac (2.51%) all notching large gains after their US peers posted strong earnings results overnight.
Deals:
- BHP (0.5%) — Announced it, along with Canadian miner Lundin Mining, had acquired Toronto-listed copper producer Filo Corp.
- Pro Medicus (-0.44%) — Has signed a $33 million deal with the University of Kentucky to roll out its Visage products. However, Morningstar has labelled the company as ‘overvalued’.
Other news:
- Tabcorp (5.96%) — Has tapped Hong Kong Jockey Club executive Michael Fitzsimons to be its first chief wagering officer.
- Genesis Minerals (4.38%) — Reaffirmed its upgraded guidance of 190,000 to 210,000 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of between $2,200 and $2,400 per ounce.
- Block (3.43%) — The Afterpay parent has been slapped with a USD80 million ($128.5 million) fine after regulators found it had insufficient policies for addressing money laundering through its payment platform Cash App.
- Regis Resources (2.07%) — Has settled a $300 million loan facility early, and said it is in talks to set up another revolving credit facility.
- Rio Tinto (0.1%) — Achieved its full-year guidance for iron ore production despite a small dip in fourth quarter output.
- Monadelphous (-1.66%) — Macquarie downgraded its rating on the engineering group Monadelphous to 'neutral' as it forecasts “low double-digit” earnings growth over the next three years.
The Australian dollar is buying 61.98 US cents.
What’s ahead: Later tonight will see US investment firms Morgan Stanley and Bank of America post their earnings.
Overnight will see the latest US retail sales and unemployment claims figures published.
