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Shares finished narrowly higher for the week, advancing into the Easter break as Greater Brisbane emerged from lockdown.
A late push lifted the S&P/ASX 200 38 points or 0.56 per cent on the first session of a new quarter. Gains in Afterpay and the miners outweighed declines in CSL, Coles and Macquarie Group.
The advance handed the index a skinny gain for the week of 4.5 points or less than 0.1 per cent. The market has lost momentum this year, closing this afternoon at a level first tested in the third week of January. The index rose as high as 6938 mid-February, but has since floundered between 6650 and 6860 following a spike in borrowing costs and declines in raw materials.
What moved the market
Upbeat news from Queensland and a round of broadly positive economic reports were tempered by caution ahead of the four-day Easter break. Traders proved reluctant to drive the index too far with Wall Street due to trade twice before the ASX reopens on Tuesday.
Greater Brisbane emerged ahead of schedule from a three-day lockdown after Queensland health authorities reported just one new locally-acquired Covid case yesterday. “Easter is good to go,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
“Early lifting of restrictions has emerged as an unexpected and welcome news for Queenslanders ahead of Easter,” Kalkine Group CEO Kunal Sawhney said. But, “the slower-than-expected pace of vaccine rollout continues to impose risk of fresh outbreaks in Australia as restrictions ease,” he added.
News of a surge in job vacancies last quarter helped soothe fears of a jump in unemployment following the end of the JobKeeper scheme. Vacancies increased 13.7 per cent last quarter.
A rash of economic reports on the first of the month included a 2.8 per cent surge in house prices to all-time highs, a decline in retail sales and a contraction in exports as iron ore prices came off their highs.
US futures were mixed after President Joe Biden introduced his infrastructure spending plan. Dow futures retreated 36 points or 0.1 per cent. Nasdaq futures gained 0.25 per cent. S&P 500 futures traded flat.
Winners’ circle
Newcrest led a rally in materials, rising 2.6 per cent after gold rebounded above US$1,700 an ounce. Northern Star added 3.4 per cent, Evolution 2.9 per cent and St Barbara 2.8 per cent. Rio Tinto gained 1.1 per cent, Fortescue 1.3 per cent and BHP 0.8 per cent.
The tech sector bounced almost 2.5 per cent after the Nasdaq Composite outperformed overnight. Afterpay climbed 4 per cent, Appen 3.5 per cent, Nearmap 3.5 per cent and Xero 3.4 per cent.
The banks overcame early weakness. Westpac gained 0.5 per cent, NAB 0.4 per cent and ANZ 0.2 per cent. Commonwealth Bank edged up 0.1 per cent despite ASIC launching civil proceedings over alleged failures to apply waivers to fees on certain accounts. The bank said remediation payments of $64.2 million had been paid to affected customers.
Other heavyweights to advance included Aristocrat Leisure +1.1 per cent, Wesfarmers +0.7 per cent and Goodman Group +0.8 per cent.
Energy stocks marked time ahead of tonight’s OPEC+ meeting. Woodside and Oil Search closed flat. Santos edged up 0.3 per cent.
“The market remains cautious of the upcoming OPEC meeting, which will decide the extension of supply limits for May,” Kalkine’s Mr Sawhney said. “Speculations are rife that fizzling demand amid a fresh wave of lockdowns puts a strong case to keep production and supply in check.
“Saudi Arabia is reportedly prepared to support extending oil cuts by OPEC and allies into May and June. On the other hand, crude oil powerhouse Russia may be expecting a decision that will allow it to increase its production.”
AMP climbed 4.7 per cent on news ANZ’s Deputy CEO Alexis George will replace Francesco De Ferrari as CEO. Ms George has more than 27 years experience in the financial services industry. ANZ shares edged up 0.2 per cent.
News of an on-market share buyback lifted Boral 6.7 per cent to a two-and-a-half-year high. The construction materials manufacturer announced it had completed the sale of its 50 per cent share in the USG Boral joint venture for US$1.05 billion and would use the funds to reduce debt and buy back up to 10 per cent of its shares.
Explosives specialist Orica edged up 1.8 per cent after announcing Sanjeev Gandhi had taken over as CEO and Managing Director.
Doghouse
Macquarie Group sank 0.5 per cent after APRA ordered the merchant bank to retain an extra $500 million in capital to manage risk. Coles dropped 0.8 per cent, CSL 0.6 per cent, Transurban 0.5 per cent and Brambles 0.2 per cent.
Webjet fell 5.4 per cent after raising $250 million through a convertible note offering. The notes mature in April 2026 and can be converted into shares at $6.35, a 22.5 per cent premium to the share price used to set the note price. The proceeds will be used to pay down debt, fund potential acquisitions and for general use while the travel business recovers.
Other markets
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was the pick of the major Asian markets, rising 1.13 per cent. China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.25 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei added 0.79 per cent. The Asia Dow gained a slender 0.02 per cent.
Gold gave back some of last night’s 1.8 per cent bounce. Metal for June delivery retreated $3.40 or 0.2 per cent to US$1,712.20 an ounce. Brent crude lifted 35 cents or 0.6 per cent to US$63.09 a barrel.
The dollar slumped 0.67 per cent to 75.43 US cents as the greenback surged.
