ASX rallies, tracking Wall St gains
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended higher, tracking Wall Street’s rally on the back of US rate cut expectations.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX200 gained 1.12% to 7,782, with nine out of 11 sectors finishing in green.
The best-performing sector was financials, up 1.74%, followed by consumer discretionary (1.5%) and AREITs (1.33%). The big four banks all enjoyed gains, with NAB up 2.74%, followed by Commonwealth Bank (1.99%), Westpac (1.95%) and ANZ (1.43%).
However, it was the gold miners that were among the biggest gainers after prices for the commodity reached record highs overnight. Bellevue gained 7.07% while Newmont was up 3.21% and Evolution Mining finished 5.76% higher. Evolution also received a ratings upgrade from Morgan Stanley analysts to “overweight” from “equal weight”.
Webjet ended the day as the best-performing stock on the ASX 200, up 9.05%, after it published its plans to double market growth for its wholesale travel arm WebBeds by 2030.
ASX minnow Namoi Cotton saw its share price soar 20.2% after it received a $122 million takeover bid by Singapore-based Olam Agri Holdings.
Australian Strategic Minerals shares rose 18.91% to $1.42 after it won $910 million in funding from the US government to support the construction of its Dunno rare earths project. Meteoric Resources also won $377.5 million in funding.
The worst-performing sector was utilities, down 0.59%, followed by healthcare (-0.17%) and energy (-0.44%).
Elsewhere, Brickworks fell 2.71% after it reported a loss during the first half of the financial year, citing revaluations in its property portfolio and softening demand as reasons for its performance.
The Australian dollar gained after today's strong labour force figures and is buying US66.2 cents.
The context: Late this evening will see the Bank of England make its latest monetary policy decision, with analysts expecting rates will be kept unchanged. US unemployment and flash manufacturing purchasing managers index figures will also be released.
Friday will see the Reserve Bank of Australia release its latest Financial Stability Review that looks at conditions in the financial system.
The Euro Summit will also be held on Friday. It will see the European Union look into the economic situation of the region.
