Australian shares hit three-month high after interest rate cut

The news: The Australian sharemarket closed at a three-month high as it continued rallying following the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates to 3.85% yesterday.

The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.52% to 8,386.8, with nine of the 11 sectors finishing in the green.

Biggest movers:

• Utilities sector (+1.13%) – Was the top performing sector, driven by gains by Origin Energy (+1.00%), APA Group (+1.00%), AGL Energy (+0.19%) and Meridian Energy (+0.55%) Meanwhile, Mercury NZ (-1.05%) finished down.
• Big banks – CBA (+1.48%) closed at a record high for the second day in a row, and NAB (+1.16%), Westpac (+0.22%) and ANZ (+0.31%) also gained after all immediately reducing their home loan interest rates in line with the RBA's cut.
• Materials sector (+0.74%) – Gold miners made up nine of the top 10 gainers on the ASX 200, tracking an increase in gold prices as US lawmakers advanced a tax-and-spending bill projected to add trillions to federal debt. Perseus Mining (+9.73%) was the best performer in the ASX 200, with Emerald Resources (+8.57%) and Evolution Mining (+6.9%) also posting big gains. Iron ore majors BHP (+0.13%), and Rio Tinto (+0.29%) also rose.
• Nufarm (-30.10%) – Was the worst performer on the ASX 200 after it reported a 40% drop in first-half profits.
• Mayne Pharma (-29.78%) – Shares plunged after it announced its deal to be acquired by Cosette Pharmaceuticals could be scrapped after the US company invoked material adverse change concerns.

Other News:

• Catapult (+13.72%) – The sports tech company saw a stock price surge after posting higher full-year revenue and a reduced net loss.
• Seek (+6.95%) – The job search website reported that FY25 revenue and profit will likely be in the top half of guidance ranges.
• Nanosonics (+0.9%) – Shares in the ultrasound manufacturer lifted after it informed the ASX it is not aware of any news that could explain the intraday low it hit on Tuesday as trade volume significantly increased.
• Gold Road Resources (+0.61%) – The Foreign Investment and Review Board approved South African miner Gold Fields’ proposed buyout of Perth-based Gold Road.
• WebJet (0%) – Shares in the online travel agency closed without change at the end of a mixed trading day after turning a profit six months on from demerging with Web Travel Group in September 2024 despite lower revenue and sales.
• MA Financial (-3.69%) – The asset manager says it is in talks to acquire real estate asset manager IP Generation.
• Mineral Resources (-4.28%) – The miner reported an increase in iron ore reserves at its main Onslow project in Western Australia.
• James Hardie Industries (-6.18%) – The concrete building materials firm plunged after posting a 17% fall in profit in the financial year ending in March.