S&P 500: ASX 200 Gains Amid Bank Rally and Commodity Fluctuations
S&P 500 Rally Pushing ASX 200 Higher
A sharp rally in bank stocks helped push the Australian sharemarket higher on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.4 percent, or 31 points, to 8013.4 at the closing bell, with eight out of the 11 sectors in the green. The All Ordinaries rose 0.3 percent. That’s despite the index sealing a weekly loss of 1 percent, its first weekly decline in four weeks.
Financial Sector Performance
The financial sector was the best performing, climbing 1.5 percent. The big four all rose: Commonwealth Bank by 1.5 percent to $143.47, Westpac by 1.7 percent to $32.10, ANZ by 1.7 percent to $31.79, and National Australia Bank by 1.4 percent to $39.05. The rally in banks came ahead of US unemployment and jobs figures – set for release at 10.30pm Friday AEST – which are expected to indicate the pace and scale of interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve in the coming months.
Commodities and Other Stocks
In commodities, iron ore futures extended their slump towards $US90 a tonne in Singapore, oil fluctuated, and gold edged back above the $US2500 an ounce mark. The materials sector tracked the steel-making mineral down 0.9 percent. BHP fell 1.2 percent to $38.45, Rio Tinto dropped 0.1 percent to $107.02, and Fortescue Metals lost 0.1 percent to $16.12.
Stocks in Focus
ASX-listed dental chain Pacific Smiles dropped 1.4 percent to $1.76 after announcing that chief executive Andrew Vidler is stepping down. He will serve a six-month notice period, and the board will commence a recruitment process for his replacement. Also, Woodside Energy sold $US2 billion ($3 billion) of bonds in the US market overnight, to be used partly to fund the $US2.35 billion acquisition of a clean ammonia project in Texas and the $US900 million purchase of a prospective LNG export terminal in Louisiana. Shares were down 3.9 percent to $24.02, tracking a lower crude oil price and touching an 18-month low. Also within the energy sector, Santos also dropped 1.4 percent to $6.92 and Ampol slid 1 percent to $28.48.
This article was prepared using information from open sources in accordance with the principles of Ethical Policy. The editorial team is not responsible for absolute accuracy, as it relies on data from the sources referenced.