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The Aussie market kept moving in slow motion today as the world holds its breath for a U.S.-China trade deal update.
Still, the ASX 200 is continuing to hike back up after wiping away 256 points in just two sessions last week. Today, the index held steady and closed 0.68 per cent up at 6752.60 points.
It was utilities that led the run, however, as electricity and gas provider AGL Energy tacked on a healthy 0.93 per cent over the day’s session.
AGL’s New Zealand rival, Mercury NZ, lost 1.28 per cent, but the loss was offset by fellow power companies APA Group and AusNet, who gained 1.84 and 1.79 per cent, respectively.
Complementing gains in the commercial providers were the big players in our energy sector, with Woodside, Santos and Origin each closing green.
Consumer stocks pulled together to push the Australian market higher with gambling game maker Aristocrat Leisure tacking on a healthy 1.35 per cent.
Conglomerate Wesfarmers gained 0.52 per cent, Flight Centre gained 2.03 per cent, Domino’s Pizza gained 0.43 per cent, and Tabcorp gained 0.86 per cent. Only Harvey Norman underperformed, dropping over 2.43 per cent to close at $4.18 per share.
Punters flocked to buy up digital travel business Webjet’s shares today after takeover speculation in the media. The company downplayed the speculation but left some important qualifying clauses in its announcement to the market, hinting that perhaps the rumours are not without at least some merit. Webjet rose 9.09 per cent and closed with shares worth $12.72 each.
CBA once again performed the best of the big banks. Westpac gained 0.58 per cent after closing its November share purchase plan over-subscribed by $270 million despite its money-laundering scandals.
ANZ and NAB both saw red in early-afternoon trade but brought things back by market close. ANZ closed 0.25 per cent up, while NAB closed on the grey line.
Mining big caps saw some muted gains after yesterday’s strong run, with BHP up 0.31 per cent and Rio Tinto up 0.24 per cent at market close.
Fortescue Metals spent the day in the green gearing up for another 11-year high close. However, shares took a sudden dip right before the end of the trading session and the iron ore producer ended up losing 0.29 per cent.
Technology stocks put a damper on the day’s gains as the sector saw red. Stock transfer company Computershare’s 0.30 per cent rise was outweighed by losses from Xero, WiseTech, and Afterpay.
Asian markets varied today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advancing 0.33 per cent, India’s Sensex gaining 0.25 per cent, but Japan’s Nikkei 225 decreasing 0.16 per cent.
The dollar saw a slight increase, buying 68.14 U.S. cents, 51.85 pence, and 9543.10 Indonesian Rupiah.
Today’s ups and downs
Junior advertising company XTD is trading at a 2019 high after announcing a deal to buy out marketing business Aldine Media. Since the news dropped yesterday morning, XTD has added almost 28.12 per cent to its share price.
Jaxsta, which brands itself as a music technology company, raised $2.7 million through a share placement at a 16-per-cent-discounted share price. The company’s shares have dipped to the same price as the placement over the trading day and closed at 18 cents each.
