ASX rallies as tech gains
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended higher, taking cues from Wall Street, which rallied after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell stoked optimism for an interest rate cut later this year.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 gained 0.93% to end at 7,889.6, with all 11 sectors finishing in green. This was the second-best day for the index so far this year, behind 28 March's 7,896 finish.
The best performing sector was AREITs, up 1.59%, followed by IT (1.46%). Xero led IT gains, up 3.28%, after Morgan Stanley analysts hiked their price target by 21% on the accounting software provider, pointing to an "attractive structural growth story" with improved profitability and free cash flow.
Telix Pharmaceuticals was the best performer across the ASX 200, up 9.92%, after proposed changes to US regulations around payments for diagnostic radiotherapy treatments were released.
Seven Group ended 2.29% higher after declaring a final dividend of 30 cents per share, representing a 30% uplift on the previous year's payout.
Woodside increased 1.09% after announcing it had secured a deal to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Taiwan petrochemicals firm CPC Corp.
On the same day a report by Jarden revealed that retail ownership of major banks had fallen to a record low in the June quarter, all the big four gained except ANZ (-1.25%) with CBA up 0.78%, NAB up 1.03% and Westpac up 0.15%. The Australian Financial Review reported today that ANZ’s markets division inflated bond trades by more than $50 billion in 12 months.
Elsewhere, Synlait rocketed 43.48% after securing a $120 million loan from China’s Bright Dairy which shareholders approved in a special shareholder meeting.
The worst performing sector was utilities, up 0.25%, followed by financials (0.52%). HUB24 fell 2.48% after Citi analysts downgraded the company to ‘neutral’ as it expected rival Netwealth to overtake the wealth manager in underlying flows. Netwealth also fell (-4.59%) despite posting record inflows for the full year.
Insignia Financial ended 1.08% lower after announcing an overhaul of its operating model and executive team. The wealth manager so far has had a volatile week after speculations of a private equity takeover bid were denied.
Alumina fell 1.75% after its joint venture with Alcoa reported lower production during the June quarter, ahead of the company’s impending merger with the US aluminium giant.
Aurizon ended 0.56% lower after the competition regulator flagged concerns with its proposed acquisition of Flinders Logistics and its subsidiary Pirie Bulk under a share sale agreement.
The Australian dollar is higher buying 67.6 US cents.
The context: The latest CPI and unemployment figures for the US will be released tonight.
