ASX gains on Friday but falls during weekly trading

The ASX closed trading up slightly on Friday, but it still fell 0.88 per cent for the week.

Australia’s sharemarket rose slightly to close out trading on Friday, although it was down from a mid-day high throughout the trading session.

The benchmark ASX 200 index gained by 5 points, or 0.06 per cent, to finish the session at 8,211.30 points.

The broader All Ordinaries rose by 13.40 points, or 0.16 per cent, to close at 8,467.30 points.

The Australian dollar fell 0.3 per cent to 66.22 cents

The slight gains during Friday’s trading was not enough to save the week, with the ASX falling 0.88 per cent in the last five trading days.

The Australian market’s slight gains came off the back of a bounce in tech stocks, driven by a mammoth per cent surge in Tesla after its quarterly earnings yesterday rising 20 per cent to, the S&P 500 marginally higher, and sparked a recovery in the NASDAQ.

“There remains a degree of caution in the markets, with the performance of equities mixed due to the combination of macroeconomic, earnings and political risk on the horizon, Capital.com’s senior financial market analyst Kyle Rodda said.

The ASX rose slightly after gains from the US market. Picture: NewsWire / Christian Gilles

“Nevertheless, the narrative was a positive one and opened up the room for a touch of risk-taking, even if two volatility is likely to persist going into next week.”

The biggest gainer on the market was logistics and software solutions company WiseTech which soared 12.70 per cent to $112 on the announcement CEO Richard White will move onto the company into an advisory role.

“It has been a challenging time for me personally, my family and close friends, and for the

company that I have built and truly love,” Mr White said in a statement to the ASX on Thursday.

“I want to assure all those who have supported WiseTech, as customers, colleagues, and shareholders, that I remain absolutely committed to seeing this incredible organisation continue to thrive and grow in the coming years.”

Following the announcement Bell Potter, Citi, Goldman Sachs and RBC upgraded their recommendations to buy.

The strong gains from WiseTech on Friday drew the information sector and the rally over in the US saw an uplift of 3.34 per cent during Friday’s trading.

Overall, six of the 11 sectors traded higher, with healthcare and financials trading stronger. Consumer staples was the worst performing sector down 1.19 per cent during Friday’s trading.

This was off the back of losses to the two major supermarkets. Woolworths traded down 1.63 per cent to $32.69 while Coles fell 0.98 per cent to $18.16.

But gains on Friday were not enough to lift the market higher as a whole for the week. Picture: Newswire/ Gaye Gerard.

Despite a number of tailwinds, Newmont Gold’s share price was once again the worst performing on the ASX after a disappointing announcement on Thursday. It fell 13.59 per cent to $70.74 following the release of its results on Thursday.

Citi analysts said that Newmont’s cost performance during the quarter was “disappointing” and noted that an investor call on Thursday “did seem to represent a downward reset of expectations”.

They flagged that production from Newmont’s Tier 1 portfolio in 2025 will be “flattish, not up” and underlying costs in 2025 will be “flattish, not down”.