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A momentary hiatus in US-China economic conflicts sent Wall Street to fresh records as phase one of the long-awaited trade deal was signed last night.
The news brought with it some fresh records on our own market down under. The benchmark ASX 200 surged ahead on the back of the deal, and within five minutes of trade had charged through the 7000-point mark for the first time ever.
The index stayed steady throughout the day and by market close had gained 47 points, or 0.67 per cent, to close at a new high of 7041.80 points.
Consumer stocks recovered from yesterday’s slump and today were the top contributors to the market’s gains. Supermarket giants led the charge as Woolworths gained 0.97 per cent and Coles 1.54 per cent. Retail conglomerate Wesfarmers helped push things higher with a 0.73 per cent gain.
The technology sector was the other top performer today. Eight of the sector’s 10 biggest companies by market cap closed green, led by WiseTech’s healthy 4.07 per cent upswing. Xero gained 1.93 per cent, Computershare 0.96 per cent, and Afterpay 1.34 per cent.
The finance sector was green all over as banking stocks capitalised on the market’s bullish sentiment. Commonwealth’s 0.96 per cent gain brought the country’s biggest bank to its highest share price since 2017. As for the rest of the big four, ANZ gained 0.67 per cent, NAB 0.75 per cent, and Westpac 0.85 per cent.
Investment banking giant Macquarie increased for its third session in a row. The company gained 1.39 per cent and once again reached a new all-time-high share price.
Mining stocks were once again mixed, however. Newcrest and Fortescue gained a respective 1.02 and 1.38 per cent, but these were offset by BHP’s 0.12 per cent loss. Rio Tinto spent most of the day down but just scraped green by closing 0.0097 per cent up. The materials sector as a whole saw a muted 0.1 per cent increase.
In the world of health care, CSL finally cracked the $300-per-share mark for the first time ever with another 1.06 per cent gain. The biotech giant closed at a new record high of $300.89 per share.
Despite the eased trade war tensions, global markets were on the weaker side today. In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX lost 0.18 per cent and France’s CAC 40 0.14 per cent. London’s Footsie managed to tack on a 0.27 per cent gain
Over east, Asian markets were mixed. The Asia Dow saw a 0.31 per cent. gain, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 close behind with a 0.09 per cent gain. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.08 per cent, but the Shanghai Composite lost 0.44 per cent.
Looking at the currencies, one Australian dollar is currently buying 69.04 US cent, 52.91 pence, and 0.6191 Euros.
What’s hot today and what’s not today
Hot today: Medication management company Medadvisor (ASX:MDR) has gained over 22 per cent after announcing a new US partnership. The company said it will be providing medication education programs for a top 10 global pharmaceutical company. Medadvisor said it legally could not disclose the company’s name, but assured investors it brings in over US$20 billion in revenues. Medadvisor shares closed at a seven-year high of 46 cents each.
Not today: Junior oil and gas explorer Elixir Energy (ASX:EXR) nosedived today after releasing an underwhelming update from its Mongolian Nomgon IX project. While the second well spudded today, a permeability test brought in “lower than expected” results because of poor coal quality from the first. Shares dropped 40 per cent today and closed at 1.8 cents each.
