Stocks end in black despite gas slump

The local market has eked out another day of gains, despite heavily weighed energy stocks.

Australian stocks enjoyed a fifth straight day of gains on Thursday despite a drag from the energy space as a possible gas reserve policy stunned traders.

The slack was more than picked up by the big banks and national carrier Qantas, which struck a 12-month high on a positive analyst note from Macquarie.

At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 9.5 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 5,921.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index edged up 7.6 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 5,944.4.

The local market had received a mixed lead from offshore as enthusiasm waned through the latest Wall Street session.

“Having bought the rumour, US investors sold after the unveiling of President Trump’s tax plan,” CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said.

“Although the initial response was positive, and US indices traded in the green for most of the session, the looming market close sparked a minor panic.”

Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at CFD and FX provider AxiTrader, said traders would still likely take the news as a positive in the coming weeks.

“What the plan does is outline and reaffirm that Trump, his administration, and his finance and economic team are still moving forward on their plans,” he said.

“These plans are the ones that were a big part of buoying investor sentiment toward US stocks.”

Commodity prices were largely down modestly on a strengthening US dollar overnight, weighing on the resources sector as a whole.

Also weighing on the broader resources space was pressure from the government on the gas export plans of the likes of Santos and Origin in the face of soaring energy prices on the east coast.

The former was hit hardest by investors, with its shares off 5.5 per cent at $3.44.

Elsewhere, Woodside slid 1 per cent to $32.22 and Origin skidded 3.6 per cent to $7.26.

In materials, BHP lost 0.9 per cent to $23.87, while Rio Tinto surrendered 1.2 per cent to $59.80 and Fortescue slumped 3.2 per cent to $5.21.

“BHP shares are in focus after a quarterly production result that disappointed (on Wednesday),” Mr McCarthy said.

In contrast, the big banks stood out as leading lights throughout the session despite UBS warning the recent upgrade cycle could be over.

Westpac led the way in climbing 1 per cent, while NAB and ANZ advanced 0.8 per cent and CBA tacked on 0.6 per cent.

Among other blue chips, Telstra slipped 0.5 per cent to $4.22 and Qantas shot up 5 per cent to $4.21 on Macquarie’s positive report on the stock.

Elsewhere, Wesfarmers weakened 1.5 per cent to $43.30 on a soft third quarter trading update that was most significant for the continued malaise at Target.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was trading around US74.85c at the close of local trade having halted downward momentum seen after soft inflation numbers yesterday.

The slack was more than picked up by the big banks and national carrier Qantas, which struck a 12-month high on a positive analyst note from Macquarie.

At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index had dipped 0.6 of a point, or 0.01 per cent, to 5,911.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index edged down 2.7 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 5,934.1.

The local market had received a mixed lead from offshore as enthusiasm waned through the latest Wall Street session.

“Having bought the rumour, US investors sold after the unveiling of President Trump’s tax plan,” CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said.

“Although the initial response was positive, and US indices traded in the green for most of the session, the looming market close sparked a minor panic.”

Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at CFD and FX provider AxiTrader, said traders would still likely take the news as a positive in the coming weeks.

“What the plan does is outline and reaffirm that Trump, his administration, and his finance and economic team are still moving forward on their plans,” he said.

“These plans are the ones that were a big part of buoying investor sentiment toward US stocks.”

Commodity prices were largely down modestly on a strengthening US dollar overnight, weighing on the resources sector as a whole.

Also weighing on the broader resources space was pressure from the government on the gas export plans of the likes of Santos and Origin, in the face of soaring energy prices on the east coast.

The former was hit hardest by investors, with its shares off 5.5 per cent at $3.44.

Elsewhere, Woodside slid 1 per cent to $32.22 and Origin skidded 3.6 per cent to $7.26.

In materials, BHP lost 0.9 per cent to $23.87, while Rio Tinto surrendered 1.2 per cent to $59.80 and Fortescue slumped 3.2 per cent to $5.21.

“BHP shares are in focus after a quarterly production result that disappointed (on Wednesday),” Mr McCarthy said.

In contrast, the big banks stood out as leading lights throughout the session, despite UBS warning the recent upgrade cycle could be over.

Westpac led the way in climbing 1 per cent, while NAB and ANZ advanced 0.8 per cent and CBA tacked on 0.6 per cent.

Among other blue chips, Telstra slipped 0.5 per cent to $4.22 and Qantas shot up 5 per cent to $4.21 on Macquarie’s positive report on the stock.

Elsewhere, Wesfarmers weakened 1.5 per cent to $43.30 on a soft third quarter trading update that was most significant for the continued malaise at Target.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was trading around US74.85c at the close of local trade, having halted downward momentum seen after soft inflation numbers yesterday.