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A strong Friday on Wall Street once again set the ASX up for a healthy start to the week.
The ASX 200 gained for the fifth session in a row, edging towards 7100 points after cracking through the 7000-point milestone for the first time ever last Thursday. Today, the benchmark index gained 0.22 per cent to close at a fresh record of 7079.50 points.
Mining stocks carried the market today as our giant producers rose again in the light of last week’s phase one US-China trade deal. BHP and Rio Tinto gained 1.58 and 0.90 per cent respectively as they both reach their highest share price since July last year.
Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals continues to climb towards its all-time-high, gaining another 3.68 per cent today and enjoying its highest share price in 11 years.
Health care supported the market’s rise with the sector gaining 0.7 per cent over the day despite some mixed results from its biggest big players. CSL hit a new record close with a 1.12 per cent gain, which Cochlear lost 1.19 per cent. As for the healthcare providers: Ramsay gained 1.27 per cent, Sonic gained 0.16 per cent, and Fisher and Paykel lost 0.7 per cent.
The finance sector closed grey today, however, as our big banks saw mixed results. Commonwealth Bank lost 0.14 per cent, while ANZ gained 0.28 per cent, Westpac gained 0.36 per cent, and NAB gained 0.59 per cent.
Investment banking giant Macquarie joined in on the ongoing fresh records with a 0.58 per cent gain, but Insurance Australia offset the gain with a 2.40 per cent loss.
Tech stocks were also mixed. While Computershare gained 0.56 per cent and Afterpay a healthy 2.35 per cent, the gains were offset by Xero and WiseTech’s 0.46 and 2.20 respective losses.
In the retail world, Woolworths gained 0.51 per cent and Metcash gained 1.92 per cent to keep the consumer staples sector slightly green. Consumer discretionary, however, slumped as conglomerated Wesfarmers led a round of losses and declined 0.77 per cent.
Turning heads overseas, it was green all over for European stocks. London’s Footsie gained 0.85 per cent while the Frankfurt DAX rose 0.72 per cent.
In the east, Asian markets were once again mixed. When the ASX closed, the Asia Dow had gained 0.29 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.24 per cent, and the Shanghai SSE Composite 0.43 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, however, dipped 0.39 per cent lower.
As for our local currency, the Aussie dollar is currently slightly stronger and buys 68.83 US cents, 52.94 pence, and 9399.51 Indonesian Rupiah.
Today’s ups and downs
Gold producer Silver Lake Resources (ASX:SLR) gained 6.74 per cent today after the company upgraded its 2020 financial year guidance in its December quarterly report. Gold sales were up and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) were down across the board as the company reached record quarterly production. Shares closed at a six-month high of $1.50 per share.
Reporting season hasn’t been as kind to some other companies, however, as a day of profit downgrades dampened gains across the ASX sectors. Online retailer Kogan.com (ASX:KGN) had some heavily slowed profit growth over the second quarter of the financial year, while software specialist Gentrack Group (ASX:GTK) slashed its earnings guidance by more than half over some tough market conditions. NIB Group and Super Retail Group shareholders also fell victim to some weakened quarterlies.
