Source : THE AGE NEWS
By Stan Choe
The Australian sharemarket gave up its early gains to close flat as investors fretted over the outcome of the trade talks between US and Chinese officials in Switzerland.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 2.3 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 8233.5 as the broader All Ordinaries rose 4.4 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 8467.
The top 200 rose as much as 0.57 per cent to a 10-week high on the back of long-awaited US-China trade talks but fell away by the afternoon. US officials promised more details overnight.
The S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.5 per cent higher on Thursday.Credit: Tamara Voninski
Five of 11 local sectors finished higher, energy and materials stocks pushing the bourse higher with gains of 2.4 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively as financials ground 0.1 per cent lower.
The Australian dollar, which snapped its four-week winning streak last week, is buying US64.37¢ – up from US63.97¢ on Friday at 5pm.
Mining shares closed in the green, with BHP (up 2.3 per cent), Rio Tinto (up 2.1 per cent) and Fortescue (1.3) on the back of iron ore prices trending upwards.
Mineral Resources shares jumped 8.3 per cent despite the $90 billion industry super fund Hesta selling its remaining shareholding in the miner, citing its concerns about the company’s governance practices.
Hesta said its decision followed the resignations of three directors in April, who together formed Mineral Resources’ ethics and governance committee that was established in November 2024. The fund had put the miner on notice last October as governance issues, centred on Mineral Resources’ founder and chief executive Chris Ellison, emerged.
Energy stocks also posted a solid session, with Santos up 3.3 per cent and Woodside Energy up 2 per cent.
Macquarie was the big winner in the financial sector, rising 2.1 per cent after Citi analysts upgraded the stock from “sell” to “neutral”. ANZ (up 0.8 per cent) led the way for the big four banks as new chief Nuno Matos started in his role. CBA closed flat and Westpac slid 0.4 per cent, while NAB lost 2.3 per cent as it traded ex-dividend.
Woolworths and Coles closed weaker as investors pondered the prospect of a price war.
Woolworths on Monday announced it was cutting prices on hundreds of supermarket staples in the latest chapter of the supermarket price wars as it looked to win back market share from rivals Coles and Aldi. Woolworths shares slid by 1.5 per cent while Coles closed 0.9 per cent lower.
Australian investors will keep an eye on the latest from the US President Donald Trump, who has flagged plans to sign an executive order to cut US prescription drug prices by mandating that Americans pay no more than people in countries that have the lowest price.
While predicting that pharmaceutical prices could drop 30 per cent to 80 per cent in the US, Trump also said prices would probably “rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!”
Meanwhile, more details are expected to emerge after the US and China both reported “substantial progress” after two days of talks in Switzerland aimed at de-escalating a trade war, marking what Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng called “an important first step” towards resolving differences.
Scott Bessent, the lead US negotiator in trade talks with China, cited “a great deal of productivity” in resolving differences between the world’s two leading economic powers after officials wrapped two days of bargaining. US futures jumped on the reports.
“As we say back in China, if the dishes are delicious, the timing doesn’t matter,” Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang said in Geneva. “Whenever it gets released, it will be good news for the world.”
On Wall Street on Friday, indexes wrapped up an unusually quiet week on markets with a mixed session. The S&P 500 slipped 4.03 points to 5,659.91. The Dow Jones fell 119.07 to 41,249.38 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.78 to 17,928.92.
With AAP, AP and Bloomberg
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