ASX rises on US-China chip deal
The benchmark ASX200 index closed up on Wednesday, gaining 10.60 points or 0.13 per cent to 8,279.60.
The broader All Ordinaries also traded higher on Wednesday, gaining 9.50 points or 0.11 per cent to 8,520.20 and setting a new 50-day high.
The Australian dollar continued its steady rally up 0.05 per cent to 64.76 US cents.
On a mixed day six of 11 industry sectors ended in the green, leading the risk on part of the market including energy and technology. Australia's market continues to eke out small gains. Photo: Gaye Gerard / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia
Helping to lead the rally was the buy now pay later shares, with Zip up 5.29 per cent to $2.09 while Block closed up 6.30 per cent to $90.35.
The more defensive part of the market including consumer defensive, healthcare and utilities all finished in the red.
Origin Energy fell 1.1 per cent to $10.98, APA Group dropped 1.3 per cent to $8.16 and AGL dipped 3.45 per cent to $10.36.
The two major supermarkets finished in the red. Woolworths shares fell 0.16 per cent to $31.51 while Coles dropped 0.88 per cent to $21.33.
Morningstar equity market strategist Lochlan Halloway said the Australian gains followed a strong showing on Wall Street session overnight on the back of the tech sector continuing its rally overnight.
Nvidia was one of the main drivers, up 5.6 per cent on the back of US President Donald Trump allowing the chip maker to send its artificial intelligence microchips to China.
'It is always constructive to look into the US and a lead into what might happen in our market. It was a fairly strong showing on the US, particularly in the tech sector with the Nasdaq up nearly 2 per cent overnight,' Mr Halloway said.
'That was primarily due to further deregulation with Trump's tariffs, including chip restrictions and that spilt over into Australia's tech sector today.' On a mixed day six of the 11 sectors finished in the green. Picture NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard. Credit: News Corp Australia
'The strongest was energy, which is sort of a global growth proxy sector. Oil was up, again reflecting de-escalating trade tensions and a more optimistic outlook for global growth.'
In company news Australia's largest bank has announced bumper quarterly cash profits, but its boss warns global uncertainty could soon slow the Australian economy.
Commonwealth Bank revealed its cash profits rose 6 per cent to $2.6bn in the March quarter, on the back of strong lending to Australian businesses.
The bank said business loans surged 9.1 per cent or $3.7bn within those three months, outpacing its home-lending volumes which grew 4.1 per cent.
Importantly for shareholders, CBA said its net interest margin – a key measure of profitability – held stable in the quarter, excluding non-recurring earnings, although it did not provide the figure in its trading update.
CBA finished Wednesday up 0.82 per cent to $167.50, ANZ finished narrowly in the green up 0.070 per cent to $28.53, NAB jumped 1.38 per cent to $36.10 and Westpac was the outlier down 1.20 per cent to $31.26.
Life 360 also continued its impressive run up 9.46 per cent on Wednesday to $29.75 after releasing its quarterly earnings on Tuesday, which beat market expectations.
Insignia shares tumbled 15.75 per cent to $3.37 after it announced Bain Capital said it was walking away from its $3.4bn takeover on 'macro uncertainty'.
Gaming company Aristocrat also slumped 8.85 per cent to $62.10 after posting its half-yearly results which underwhelmed the market.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The opera lover, the aromatherapist and the $1m inheritance fight
It was a costly court fight over the million-dollar estate of an elderly opera aficionado. An aromatherapist who struck up a friendship with the woman stood to inherit everything if she won. Eva Marie Easton died in September 2021, aged 89. The German migrant made a will in November 2020 naming the Sydney Opera House Trust as sole beneficiary. It was her wish that the funds be used for the promotion of performances of German classical music. The 2020 will superseded a will from 2019, leaving everything to her friend Isabelle Agnes Peacock, an aromatherapist she met in 2004 when she started having monthly massages. Easton's Australian ex-husband had died years earlier, and she was unaware of any other living relatives. By about 2009, Easton and Peacock 'had developed a good friendship', Supreme Court Justice James Hmelnitsky said in a decision last year. 'Mrs Peacock would drive Mrs Easton to places she needed to be, such as dental and medical appointments.' Loading Easton was diagnosed with cancer and moved to a NSW aged care facility in 2017. Peacock continued to visit. The elderly woman made a will in December 2017 leaving her estate to a couple with whom she was friends. If they predeceased Easton, everything would go to Peacock. The court heard Easton became upset when the couple moved to Queensland. She executed a new will in May 2019, leaving her estate to Peacock.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
The opera lover, the aromatherapist and the $1m inheritance fight
It was a costly court fight over the million-dollar estate of an elderly opera aficionado. An aromatherapist who struck up a friendship with the woman stood to inherit everything if she won. Eva Marie Easton died in September 2021, aged 89. The German migrant made a will in November 2020 naming the Sydney Opera House Trust as sole beneficiary. It was her wish that the funds be used for the promotion of performances of German classical music. The 2020 will superseded a will from 2019, leaving everything to her friend Isabelle Agnes Peacock, an aromatherapist she met in 2004 when she started having monthly massages. Easton's Australian ex-husband had died years earlier, and she was unaware of any other living relatives. By about 2009, Easton and Peacock 'had developed a good friendship', Supreme Court Justice James Hmelnitsky said in a decision last year. 'Mrs Peacock would drive Mrs Easton to places she needed to be, such as dental and medical appointments.' Loading Easton was diagnosed with cancer and moved to a NSW aged care facility in 2017. Peacock continued to visit. The elderly woman made a will in December 2017 leaving her estate to a couple with whom she was friends. If they predeceased Easton, everything would go to Peacock. The court heard Easton became upset when the couple moved to Queensland. She executed a new will in May 2019, leaving her estate to Peacock.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Stocks cheered by Trump trade deals after EU agreement
Asian stocks have lifted and the euro firmed after a trade agreement between the United States and the EU lifted sentiment and provided clarity in a pivotal week headlined by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan policy meetings. The US struck a framework trade agreement with the European Union, imposing a 15 per cent import tariff on most EU goods - half the threatened rate, a week after agreeing to a trade deal with Japan that lowered tariffs on auto imports. Countries are scrambling to finalise trade deals ahead of the August 1 deadline, with talks between the US and China set for Monday in Stockholm amid expectation of another 90-day extension to the truce between the top two economies. "A 15 per cent tariff on European goods, forced purchases of US energy and military equipment and zero tariff retaliation by Europe, that's not negotiation, that's the art of the deal," said Prashant Newnaha, senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities. "A big win for the US" S&P 500 futures rose 0.4 per cent and the Nasdaq futures gained 0.5 per cent while the euro firmed across the board, rising against the dollar, sterling and yen. European futures surged nearly one per cent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei slipped after touching a one-year high last week while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.27 per cent, just shy of the almost four-year high it touched last week. While the baseline 15 per cent tariff will still be seen by many in Europe as too high, compared with Europe's initial hopes to secure a zero-for-zero tariff deal, it is better than the threatened 30 per cent rate. The deal with the EU provides clarity to companies and averts a bigger trade war between the two allies that account for almost a third of global trade. "Putting it all together, what we've seen with Japan, with the EU, with the talks which are due to be held in Stockholm between the US and China, it really does negate the risk of a prolonged trade war," said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG. "The importance of the August tariff deadline has significantly been diffused." The Australian dollar, often seen as a proxy for risk sentiment, was 0.12 per cent higher at $US0.65725 in early trading, hovering around the near eight-month peak scaled last week. In an action-packed week, investors will watch out for the monetary policy meetings from the Fed and the BOJ as well as the monthly US employment report and earnings reports from megacap companies Apple, Microsoft and Amazon . While the Fed and the BOJ are expected to stand pat on rates, comments from the officials will be crucial for investors to gauge the interest rate path. The trade deal with Japan has opened the door for the BOJ to raise rates again this year. Meanwhile, the Fed is likely to be cautious on any rate cuts as officials seek more data to determine if tariffs are worsening inflation before they ease rates further. But tensions between the White House and the central bank over monetary policy have heightened, with Trump repeatedly denouncing Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates. Two of the Fed Board's Trump appointees have articulated reasons for supporting a rate cut this month. ING economists expect December to be the likely starting point for rate cuts, but it "may be a 50 basis point cut, if the evidence on weaker jobs and GDP growth becomes more apparent as we anticipate." "This would be a similar playbook to the Federal Reserve's actions in 2024, where it waited until it was completely comfortable to commit to a lower interest rate environment," they said in a note.
