The numbers:
The Australian sharemarket finished Tuesday’s session firmly in the green as local investors’ spirits were buoyed by a rebound on Wall Street overnight,and news that the Reserve Bank will consider a pause in interest rate increases at its April meeting.
The S&P/ASX 200 lifted by as much as 1.5 per cent at lunchtime before settling down and closing 0.8 per cent or 56.9 points higher to 6955.4 points,after setting yesterday.
UBS has agreed to buy Credit Suisse in an historic move aimed at easing fears of a global banking crisis.
The lifters:
Every sector was in the green or flat,with the exception of utilities stocks,which lost 1.6 per cent.
The biggest gainer on the index was coal explorer New Hope Corporation,up 8.6 per cent,followed by Domino’s Pizza,which rose 5.6 per cent after Barrenjoey upgraded the stock to a buy. AMP was the third-best performer of the day,lifting 5.1 per cent.
The laggards:
The poorest performers of the day were Novonix,which slid 4 per cent,followed by Paladin Energy,which declined 3.4 per cent. Brainchip Holdings’ share price fell 3.3 per cent.
The lowdown
Investors took heart from thelast month,released late in the morning,which said that its policymakers had “agreed to reconsider the case for a pause at the following meeting,recognising that pausing would allow additional time to reassess the outlook for the economy”.
The meeting took place before the banking crisis,unleashed 10 days ago,bolstered the argument for a pause in central banks’ aggressive rate rises.
With hopes that interventions,including UBS’s government-brokered takeover of struggling rival Credit Suisse,have staved off a wider global financial meltdown,the big four banks also built on the day’s positive momentum.
Commonwealth Bank,the nation’s biggest lender,rose 0.5 per cent,as did NAB. ANZ was up 1.2 per cent while Westpac gained 1.4 per cent. Macquarie Group and Bendigo Bank also rose,closing 3.3 per cent and 1.9 per cent higher.
Things were looking up on the New York Stock Exchange overnight.AP
National Australia Bank appointed Nathan Goonan as its next chief financial officer,replacing Gary Lennon,who will retire later this year. Goonan will take up the key position of finance chief from July,and has been on NAB’s senior management team for three years as the group executive in charge of strategy and innovation.
The big mining heavyweights also drove market gains,with BHP lifting 1.3 per cent,Rio Tinto up nearly 1 per cent. Fortescue Metals Group surged by as much as 1.7 per cent during the day before finishing 0.1 per cent lower.
Incitec Pivot was also a key winner of the day,rising 3.9 per cent,after that gives it plenty of spare cash to execute a planned $400 million buyback and pay down debt.
Andrew Forrest’s privately owned Wyloo Metals also announced an for $1.40 a share – a 35 per cent premium to the previous closing price of $1.04 – valuing the group at $760 million. Wyloo currently owns 19.9 per cent of Mincor,which had a share surge of 42.3 per cent.
Meanwhile,law firm Maurice Blackburn said it was investigating a potential class action against Downer EDI after the company admitted to overstating its revenue,which triggered a share price plunge in December last year and again in February this year. The stock traded above $5 at the start of December and plunged to a low of $3 in February.
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers principal Miranda Nagy said:“Downer EDI investors have borne the brunt of what appears to be a significant accounting error,for which the company has given only limited explanation so far,notwithstanding that the chair,chief executive and chief financial officer have all recently departed the company.”
Overnight on Wall Street,the S&P 500 closed 0.9 per cent higher at 3951.57,with stocks in the financial industry helping to lead widespread gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.2 per cent,while the Nasdaq composite ended the session 0.4 per cent higher.
Much investor attention has been on banks as they may be cracking under the pressure of the fastest flurry of increases to interest rates in decades.
All eyes on the Fed
Much of the rest of the US stock market was also pushing higher,but how long that lasts is a question mark. A huge decision is.
The US central bank will announce its latest move on interest rates on Wednesday[early Thursday AEDT]. For a while,Wall Street was betting it would re-accelerate its rises because of how stubbornly high inflation has remained.
Tweet of the day
Quote of the day
“Only about 35 per cent of Australian women colour their hair in a salon. A lot of people are getting their hair cut[with us] and then colouring their hair at home. People want to spend time with their family and friends instead.”
That’s budget haircut chain JustCuts group CEO Amber Manning who said had been changed by the pandemic.
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The former head of Tesla’s Australian operations Kurt Schlosser was sentenced to two years and six months in prison after an insider trading conviction,but was released on a good behaviour bond for the two offences.
Schlosser was upon entering into a recognisance,on the condition that he be of good behaviour for two years and six months.
With Colin Kruger,Clancy Yeates,AP
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