ASX swings to green as gold miners and supermarkets rally
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended higher after swinging into the green during afternoon trading, as a broad rally by gold miners and gains by supermarket giants Coles (1.5%) and Woolworths (1.2%) outweighed further declines in tech stocks.
The ASX 200 closed 0.16% higher at 7,982, with seven out of 11 sectors finishing higher.
Big ASX 200 movers:
- Gold miners — Made up nine of the top 10 performing stocks as bullion prices extended record highs on Thursday, spurred by uncertainty caused by new US tariffs on foreign car imports. Ramelius Resources (6.9%) and its acquisition target Spartan Resources (6.3%) led the rally.
- Technology (-2.2%) — Dragged on the market for the second straight session, led by a 4.2% drop by the sector's largest stock WiseTech Global.
Executive moves:
- Corporate Travel Management (-3%) — Australia and New Zealand CEO Greg McCarthy will step down on 30 June and will be replaced by former American Express executive Jo Sully.
- GQG Partners (1.9%) — Had its director of wholesale markets Daniel Bullock poached by global investment group EQT, which named him its new head of private wealth in Australia.
- NRW Holdings (2.1%) — Appointed former Perenti and Perth Airport finance boss Peter Bryant as its new chief financial officer.
Other news:
- Westpac (0.8%) — Expects to invest $600 million in its UNITE technology transformation program during the current fiscal year.
- Incitec Pivot (-1.5%) — Flagged lower first-half sales in both its fertilisers and explosives businesses due to weather conditions.
- Star Entertainment (shares suspended) — The Star Sydney's casino licence will remain suspended until at least 30 September, as the NSW Independent Casino Commission assesses the group's suitability to regain the licence.
- Orora (-8.4%) — Announced that the French Competition Authority visited its Saverglass office in France over a review into industry-wide anticompetitive practices.
The Australian dollar is buying 62.86 US cents.
What's ahead: The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release monthly data on retail sales (Tuesday) and building approvals (Wednesday) next week, as well as its monthly household spending indicator (Thursday).
The Reserve Bank will make its next decision on interest rates (Tuesday), after cutting rates for the first time since November 2020 last month.
