Live: ASX 200 jumps to second-best close; jobs beat boosts dollar; gold hits record high; Brickworks falls; Sigma gains
Strong jobs data reduces prospect of early rate cut. Chemist Warehouse profit doubles as Sigma earnings pick up. Brickworks falls on loss. Gold hits record high, miners rally. Small-caps ASM, Namoi Cotton jump.
Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, March 21. The ASX 200 index ended 1.1 per cent higher at 7782.00 points, its second highest close on record, after the US sharemarket and gold prices rallied to record highs on the Federal Reserve's rate cuts outlook, and US stock futures rose.
On Wall Street, all three major US indexes finished the day at record highs—something that hasn't happened since 2021 - after the US Federal Reserve signalled three rate cuts in 2024. The S&P 500 index traded into uncharted territory, gaining 0.9 per cent to close above 5200 points . The tech-heavy Nasdaq index surged 1.3 per cent to 16,369 points and the Dow Jones lifted 400 points, or 1 per cent, to 39,512 points.
The Aussie dollar is trading around US66.24c, extending its gains after the stronger-than-expected jobs data.
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Originally published as Live: ASX 200 jumps to second-best close; jobs beat boosts dollar; gold hits record high; Brickworks falls; Sigma gains
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