Stocks close in the black as Westpac, US race eyed

The local market has shattered a four-day losing streak, amid renewed optimism over the US election.

The Australian sharemarket has broken a four-day losing run, surging over 1 per cent after a well-received earnings report from Westpac and as positive sentiment swelled around the chances of Hillary Clinton in the US presidential race

At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index had surged 70 points, or 1.35 per cent, to a four-month high of 5,250.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index bounced 67.8 points, or 1.29 per cent, to 5,330.9.

The strong session snubbed a weak lead from US trade on Friday night as the S&P500 stretched its losing run to nine days, the longest winless run in 35 years.

Losses have been predicated on the rising prospect of Donald Trump edging out Ms Clinton in this week’s vote, but news of the FBI again clearing Ms Clinton of wrongdoing in relation to an email scandal on Monday morning (AEDT) has boosted her chances.

“Markets are likely to remove some of the risk premium taken as a precaution against a Trump victory now that Hilary Clinton will not be charged over her use of a private email server,” CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said.

“However, an element of uncertainty remains over this election. It seems unlikely that markets will make a full ‘risk on’ move until Clinton is declared the winner.”

The focus for investors today also turned to the IPO market as Inghams, one of the largest floats of 2016, made its debut.

After an inauspicious open, the poultry giant made its mark on investors through the session, winning 2.2 per cent by the close as it was aided by the strength in the broader market.

“With (owner) TPG Capital having reduced the IPO price, the stock (comes) to market with more positive market sentiment,” Mr Spooner said.

“While Inghams is a major player in a staple industry, this is a mature market and a stock that will be reliant on productivity gains and cost cutting to achieve growth targets.”

The finance sector also caught the eye of traders after a steady earnings report from Westpac.

Flat profit for the full year represented a fairly strong result through a mixed earnings season for the major banks and was enough to push the company’s shares up 2.7 per cent by the close.

Commonwealth Bank and NAB were swept along in the Westpac optimism, jumping 2.2 and 1.5 per cent, respectively, although ANZ failed to flatter with a modest 0.3 per cent uptick.

The materials sector performed strongly after iron ore prices struck another six-month high.

Fortescue leapt 3.4 per cent to $5.47, Rio Tinto gained 1.1 per cent to $53.92 and sector heavyweight BHP rallied 1.9 per cent to $22.70.

In energy, Santos surged 3.9 per cent to $3.50, while Woodside rose 1.5 per cent to $28.32 as oil prices bounded over 1 per cent higher through Asian trade.

Among blue chips, Telstra tacked on 0.6 per cent to $4.93, while Qantas lifted 2.7 per cent to $3.00.

Elsewhere, UGL dipped 0.9 per cent after the group’s board backed a $524 million takeover bid from CIMIC, while Goodman Group climbed 1.2 per cent after reporting a strong first quarter and Domino’s Pizza jumped 2.9 per cent after a profit upgrade.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was broadly steady around US76.7c through much of the session after bouncing as high as US77.1c on the FBI news.