Australian markets rise after new RBA boss announced

An encouraging sign has emerged after the Prime Minister announced that Phil Lowe would be replaced as Reserve Bank governor.

News of a shake-up in Australia’s economic management has been received well by the share market today.

The announcement that Michele Bullock will replace Phil Lowe as governor of the Reserve Bank (RBA) left the ASX on a high at the close of the week.

The ASX200 ended the week up by 59.9 points of 0.83 per cent to reach 7306.8 points.

The index has gained 3.76 per cent this week and is currently 3.45 per cent off its 52-week high.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced Ms Bullock’s promotion from deputy governor just before the markets opened on Friday, with the news making the market jump from the moment it opened before it settled throughout the day.

The announcement that Phil Lowe would no longer be governor of the RBA was met well on the markets. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

The ASX 200 rose by 0.83 per cent to 7306.8 points after the announcement that Michele Bullock would be the new governor. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

A veteran of the RBA and the board’s current deputy chair, Ms Bullock has worked at the organisation for 37 years.

Though she’s a fresh start for the RBA after months of criticism over months of successive interest rate rises, Ms Bullock has shown little indication she wants to change its current policy.

All but one sector ended in the green today, with healthcare dropping by 0.26 per cent.

Information technology performed the best, rising by 1.81 per cent followed by telecommunications with a 1.44 per cent boost and materials at 1.40 per cent.

Today’s best performer Block Inc rose by 5.6 per cent to end trading at $111.7, followed by Telix Pharmaceuticals which rose 5.0 per cent to end trading at $11.815.

The worst performers for Friday were financial services group Netwealth which dropped by 5.8 per cent to end trading at $13.6.

That was followed by Domain Holdings which fell by 2.1 per cent to last trade at $3.7 and Allkem which decreased by 1.8 per cent to finish trading at $16.4

The ASX followed US markets today with the S&P 500 ending at 4,510 points after rising 0.85 per cent of 37.88 points.

The ASX has finished the week on a four day winning streak. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

The Dow Jones continued its winning streak, jumping by 47.71 points or 0.14 per cent to 34.395 points.

The miners have also ended the week on a high, led by BHP which rose by 1.8 per cent to finish at $45.5 and Rio Tinto which increased its share price by 1.6 per cent to $11.9.

Fortescue has continued to rise despite Wednesday’s announcement that founder Andrew Forrest and wife Nicola Forrest would be “living separate lives”, rising by 1.4 per cent to $22.8

Meanwhile, Woodside rose by 1.5 per cent to $36.3 and Santos rose 0.4 to $7.7.

The banks also all rose today, though some more than others.

NAB was the leader of the pack, rising 1.4 per cent to end the day at $26.9, followed by Commonwealth Bank with a 0.9 per cent to $101.5.

ANZ and Westpac trailed behind, rising by 0.3 per cent at $24.4 and 0.1 per cent to $21.5.

Originally published as Australian markets rise after new RBA boss announced