Major banks and miners jump in broad market rally
Investors buy up Australia’s major miners and energy producers after the US and Japan announced a trade deal, pushing up the ASX on Wednesday.
Australia’s sharemarket jumped in line with the Asian markets, after US President Donald Trump announced a “massive deal” with Japan.
The benchmark ASX 200 gained 60 points or 0.69 per cent to finish trading on Wednesday at 8,737.20, while the broader All Ordinaries climbed 59.90 points or 0.67 per cent to close at 9,001.49.
Australia’s dollar rose 0.13 per cent and at the time of writing was buying 65.62 US cents.
In an agreement between the US and Japan, the US will impose a 15 per cent levy on Japanese imports, down from 25 per cent. Japan in return will invest $US550bn into the United States.
Stocks on Japan’s Nikkei index rallied and the yen leapt on the news the country was able to sort a trade deal with Mr Trump, including on the critical car manufacturing sector.
Last year, cars shipped to the US were around 28 per cent of Japan’s 21.3 trillion yen of total exports to the world’s largest economy.
Global X senior investment strategist Billy Leung said Japanese equities hit a record high on Wednesday on the back of the announcement.
“This isn’t just about a one-day rally. Japan is the world’s largest robot manufacturing country and its role in global tech supply chains especially in high-precision manufacturing and automation makes it a key beneficiary of both tariff clarity and the broader reconfiguration of US-aligned production,” he said
Australia’s sharemarket followed with 10 of the 11 sectors gaining, led by the miners, banks and energy sector.
The big three iron ore miners all finished in the green, with BHP up 0.9 per cent to $41.85, Rio Tinto gaining 1 per cent to $119.47 and Fortescue gaining 2.3 per cent to $18.21.
Woodside Energy shares were up 1.45 per cent to $25.21, Yancoal Australia jumped 2.81 per cent to $6.58 and Whitehaven Coal soared 6.53 per cent to $7.18.
On an overall strong day for the financial sector, three of the four major banks gained during Wednesday’s trading.
Commonwealth Bank shares finished 0.51 per cent higher trading at $173.30, Westpac shares gained 1.41 per cent to $33.11 and ANZ soared 2.52 per cent to $30.57.
NAB slipped 0.05 per cent to $37.20.
In company news, shares in Telix Pharmaceuticals plunged 15.13 per cent to $21.32 after it told the market it had received a subpoena from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for various documents primarily related to the company’s disclosure regarding its prostate cancer therapy.
Shares in Australia’s top fuel retailer Ampol Limited rallied 3.27 per cent to $27.77 despite telling the market it forecasts weaker half yearly earnings on the back of sea-freight conditions impacting its supply chains.
Iluka Resources jumped 4.05 per cent to $5.39 after the global critical minerals business after telling the market it achieved its full-year production guidance for Zircon by June 30.
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