ASX 200 ends at five-week high; BHP hits new record; Cannon-Brookes floats Sun Cable rescue
Lithium and big four banks pace gains as coal miners struggle; Bonza cleared for take-off; Perpetual-Pendal deal effective; trade surplus beats consensus and US CPI data ahead.
Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, January 12. The Australian sharemarket rallied to a fresh five-week high on strong gains led by miners and banks.
The S&P/ASX 200 gained 85.10 points, or 1.2 per cent, to close at 7280.40, with all 11 sectors in the green.
Wall Street was set for a modest rise ahead of the latest US inflation data this evening with the futures tied to the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones hinting at a 0.1 per cent rise.
The dollar was buying about US69.20c at the close.
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ASX steady as miners gain; CBA rises, IAG down
Sigma gains as $300m worth of shares change hands. Alliance Aviation's labour costs growing after first industrial action in two decades. IAG top loser as investors miss buyback. Temple & Webster top gainer. 'Cleaner result' sees ASX Ltd soar.