Source : the age
Australian shares have scraped through to end a four-week losing streak, but investor confidence remains shaky as inflation, interest rates and a challenging earnings environment loom.
The S&P/ASX200 rebounded by 67.7 points on Friday, up 0.79 per cent, to 8682.1, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 60.3 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 8854.7.
The final session took the leading index 0.2 per cent higher for the week, swinging high and low as traders digested an interest rate hike, better-than-feared inflation numbers and a raft of unresolved market risks.
The top-200 remains under pressure, shrinking 6.7 per cent since early August’s all-time high after housing market fears sparked a banking sell off, with miners following in September as oil prices soared.
The Australian dollar is buying 69.33 US cents, down from 69.53 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.
Energy stocks advanced as oil prices added to recent strong gains. Woodside Energy rose 1.13 per cent and Santos was up 1.79 per cent. Refiners also advanced. Ampol climbed 1.63 per cent and Viva Energy surged 3.18 per cent.
Financial stocks regained some of Thursday’s sharp losses. Commonwealth Bank closed 1.16 per cent higher, National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Bank also made gains. The miners were mixed as BHP added 1.58 per cent and Rio Tinto climbed 1.2 per cent while Fortescue fell 0.37 per cent. Gold miner Northern Star added 1.14 per cent and Evolution Mining slid marginally.
Technology stocks bounced on the back of optimism in the US where giant Micron Technology delivered a stronger profit report for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Local stocks followed their Wall Street peers higher with WiseTech soaring 6.67 per cent, Xero up 4.59 per cent and Technology One adding 4.45 per cent.
In the US, Wall Street rose after bond yields cranked higher but then gave back most of the gains later in the day. The S&P 500 closed 0.2 per cent higher to break a three-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up less than 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite also rose less than 0.1 per cent.
The moves were more dramatic in Europe, where stock indexes tumbled 1.7 per cent in London, 1.6 per cent in Paris and 1 per cent in Frankfurt. They were hurt by sharp moves for bond yields on that side of the Atlantic. The yield on the 10-year French government bond, for example, shot to nearly 4.95 per cent and then veered toward 4.80 per cent and back up to 4.90 per cent.
That is a punishing swing for the bond market, where moves get measured in hundredths of a percentage point.
High yields slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, while undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.
Yields are on the rise for a range of reasons, including worries about high inflation and oil prices, signals that the US economy remains solid and governments’ insistence to continue to spend much more money than they bring in.
With AAP, AP, Bloomberg
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