Source : THE AGE NEWS
By Daniel Lo Surdo
Welcome to your five-minute recap of the trading day.
The numbers
The Australian sharemarket moved higher on Tuesday, as stronger iron ore prices fuelled a rally in mining giants’ share prices while rising oil prices lifted energy stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 39.1 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 8231 points at close, with eight of the 11 industry sectors in the green. It followed a 1.2 per cent retreat on Monday. The Australian dollar gained, and was valued at US61.85¢ at 4.54pm.
Wall Street kicked off the trading week with more losses.Credit: Bloomberg
The lifters
Mining giants BHP (up 1.4 per cent), Fortescue (up 2.9 per cent) and Rio Tinto (up 0.9 per cent) all rose, as iron ore prices lifted to a two-week high, while South32 (up 1.5 per cent) and Mineral Resources (up 2 per cent) were among the sector’s best performers.
Energy giants Woodside (up 0.5 per cent), Santos (up 0.3 per cent), Ampol (up 2.2 per cent) and Whitehaven Coal (up 6.6 per cent) lifted, as did Origin Energy (up 0.5 per cent) and APA (up 0.4 per cent).
Energy Transition Minerals jumped by 16.3 per cent, continuing its gains from Monday after announcing a delegation would visit Greenland to “strengthen trust and collaboration” with local communities amid a long-running legal dispute with the Danish territory over its mineral exploration projects.
The communications sector was among the best performing, buoyed by CAR Group, the company behind carsales.com.au, which added 2.7 per cent after saying it would close its tyresales.com.au arm after more than a decade of business amid difficulty achieving sustainable profits. Seek, Australia’s largest online employment marketplace, rose 3.3 per cent.
Telstra (up 0.5 per cent) and REA Group (up 0.2 per cent) also gained, while real estate giants Goodman Group (up 0.4 per cent) and Scentre Group (up 1.1 per cent) moved forward. Property business Ingenia Communities Group, which operates in the holiday and seniors living sector, jumped by 15 per cent after increasing its earning guidance to $162 million to $165 million for the 2024-25 financial year, up from $148 to $155 million.
Shares in Star Entertainment Group rose by almost 2¢, or 14 per cent, on Tuesday morning.Credit: Louie Douvis
Retailer City Chic surged by 14.6 per cent after announcing a strong holiday trading period, even as global sales revenue for the second half of 2024 were forecast to shrink.
Shares in the embattled Star Entertainment Group, which last week revealed it had only $79 million in cash remaining, rose by almost 2¢ or 12 per cent to 14¢.
On Monday, Star disclosed that businessman Xingchun Wang, who has a registered address in Macau, China, had become a substantial shareholder in the ailing business through a 5.52 per cent stake. On Tuesday, Star said his stake had increased to 6.52 per cent.
The laggards
Commonwealth Bank (down 0.5 per cent), Westpac (down 0.2 per cent) and NAB (down 0.1 per cent) were all in the red, as was Macquarie (down 0.1 per cent).
Myer fell 4.6 per cent on Tuesday, continuing a downward cycle triggered by a poor trading update released on Monday.
Premier Investments, chaired by Myer’s biggest shareholder, Solomon Lew, released a similarly downbeat update on Monday, and its shares fell by a further 1.4 per cent on Tuesday. JB Hi-Fi lost 1.6 per cent, while Kmart and Bunnings owner Wesfarmers (down 0.3 per cent) also retreated.
The fall in consumer stocks followed the release of Westpac and ANZ data finding that consumer confidence fell in January.
The technology sector (down 0.5 per cent) was the worst performing on Tuesday, dragged down by declines for WiseTech Global (down 1.3 per cent) and TechnologyOne (down 1.1 per cent).
The lowdown
Wealth group AMP predicted another year of positive trading on the ASX in 2025, amid forecasts of interest rate cuts and slowing inflation.
While flagging positive returns in 2025, AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said conditions were “likely to be more volatile and constrained.” Oliver highlighted the potential impact of Donald’s Trump administration, which is set to introduce a raft of policies that could complicate trade with some of its closest partners.
US stock indexes were split on Monday as gains for oil and gas producers helped offset drops for Nvidia and other big tech companies.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent after erasing an earlier fall of 0.9 per cent. The Dow Jones climbed 358 points, or 0.9 per cent, while the weakness for big tech stocks dragged the Nasdaq composite to a loss of 0.4 per cent.
The S&P 500 is coming off its fourth losing week from five as traders cull expectations for how much relief the Federal Reserve may deliver this year through lower interest rates.
A barrel of benchmark US crude rose 2.9 per cent to $US78.82, while Brent crude climbed 1.6 per cent to $US81.01.
All told, the S&P 500 added 9.18 points to 5836.22. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 358.67 to 42,297.12, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 73.53 to 19,088.10.
Tweet of the day
Quote of the day
“We have foreign interference laws in this country and Australian elections are a matter for Australians … I have no intention of being a … commentator on what people overseas want to engage in.”
That’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pre-emptively warning Elon Musk against any involvement in the upcoming federal election, after the world’s richest man has supported far-right parties in the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as backing Trump.
You might have missed
Hamish Macdonald, the former Q+A host and current Radio National and The Project presenter has been confirmed as the new Mornings host on 702 Radio Sydney.
Macdonald replaces Sarah Macdonald, who was unceremoniously dumped from her post after two years of underwhelming ratings, despite having strong support from the station’s employees and core listening audience. He will present the show four days a week, while Kathryn Robinson will host on Fridays.
AP
