The Australian market is notably higher on Thursday, recouping the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 7,700 level, with gains in gold miners, financial and technology stocks after the US Fed reaffirmed expectations for three interest rate cuts this year. Traders also react to mixed domestic unemployment, jobless rate and manufacturing data.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 41.90 points or 0.54 percent to 7,737.70, after touching a high of 7,776.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 44.50 points or 0.56 percent to 7,999.00. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are losing almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.1 percent and Mineral Resources is adding 1.5 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly weak. Santos, Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Beach energy is flat.
In the tech space, Xero is gaining almost 2 percent, Afterpay owner Block is adding more than 2 percent and Zip is surging more than 7 percent, while Appen is losing almost 3 percent. WiseTech Global is flat.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining more than 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is adding more than 2 percent and ANZ Banking is up almost 1 percent.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining 3.5 percent, Gold Road Resources is adding almost 1 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing almost 5 percent, Northern Star Resources is up more than 2 percent and Newmont is rising more than 3 percent.
In economic news, Australia’s unemployment rate came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.7 percent in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday – well beneath forecasts for 4.0 percent and down from 4.1 percent in January.
The Australian economy added 116,500 jobs last month, blowing away forecasts for an increase of 39,700 jobs following the addition of 500 jobs in the previous month. Full-time jobs saw an increase of 78,200 after adding 11,100 a month earlier. The participation rate fell to 66.7 percent, shy of expectations for 66.8 percent – which would have been unchanged.
Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in March, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 46.8. That’s down from 47.8 in February, and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI improved to 53.5 in March from 53.1 in February.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.662 on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading session on Wednesday before rallying following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside, reaching new record closing highs.
The major averages reached new highs for the session in the final hour of trading, ending the day sharply higher. The Dow jumped 401.37 points or 1.0 percent to 39,512.13, the Nasdaq surged 202.62 points or 1.3 percent to 16,369.41 and the S&P 500 advanced 46.11 points or 0.9 percent at 5,224.62.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index rose 0.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.5 percent.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday as traders chose to take some profits following recent gains, while a firm dollar also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April slumped $1.79 or 2.1 percent at $81.68 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Notably Higher
2024-03-21 01:30:14
