ASX rallies on steady inflation rate
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The news: The Australian sharemarket has ended higher after the market rallied on slightly better-than-expected inflation figures.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 finished up 0.51% to 7,819.6, with nine out of 11 sectors ending in green.
The best performing sector was consumer staples, up 1.35%, followed by healthcare (1.28%) and industrials (1.22%). Consumer staples started rallying after the latest CPI figure held steady at 3.5%, suggesting that the path to cutting interest rates had not been derailed. Woolworths and Coles finished higher at 1.88% and 1.32% respectively.
Healthcare major CSL rose 1.36% after it announced the issuance of two long-dated corporate bonds priced at $1.9 billion. Other large healthcare companies also gained, including Cochlear (0.69%), Resmed (1.91%) and Sonic Healthcare (0.69%).
The worst performing sector was IT, down 0.53%, followed by utilities (-0.17%) and materials (0.12%). Large tech companies Wisetech and NextDC both fell 1.22% and 1.35%, respectively.
However, one of the worst performers across the ASX was Platinum Asset Management which slumped 20.69% to $1.035 after it announced late on Tuesday that a large institutional client was set to redeem $1.4 billion in mandated funds.
Meanwhile, Westpac finished down 1.03%, following its announcement of its $3 billion tech overhaul.
The Australian dollar is lower buying US65.27 cents.
The context: The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the latest job vacancies, retail trade and national accounts data on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Thursday will also see the US Federal Reserve Governor Chrisopher Waller speak at the Economic Club of New York on monetary policy along with the release of the country’s latest quarterly US GDP figures and unemployment figures.
