‘Sent message’: ASX soars on US, China opening to trade talks
The ASX 200 has capped off an $85bn week on the back of renewed hopes tariffs could be walked back.
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The Australian sharemarket continued its march higher on Friday after comments from the Chinese government saying they are open to talks with the US boosted hopes the trade war between the two countries could be avoided.
The benchmark ASX 200 index soared 92.40 points or 1.1 per cent to a two-month high of 8,238 points.
Meanwhile, the broader All Ordinaries also jumped 90.50 points or 1.08 per cent to $8,446.20.
The Australian dollar bounced and is now buying 64.08 US cents.
On an overall positive day for the market, 10 of the 11 sectors finished in the green led by a surge in energy, healthcare and consumer staples stocks.
Woolworths shares continued to climb post earnings on Thursday up 2.32 per cent to $32.68, while rival Coles also jumped 2.05 per cent to $21.93.
Commonwealth Bank shares reached a new highest up a further 1.44 per cent to $169.99 while NAB jumped 1.36 per cent to $36.49, ANZ surged 2.08 per cent to $30.36 and Westpac closed the week higher up 1.92 per cent to $33.45.
Index heavyweights CSL continued its upward momentum closing 2.11 per cent to higher at $256.41 while major miners BHP and Rio Tinto both gained 0.66 per cent to close at $38.08 and $116.66 per cent respectively.
Australia’s market rally came after China’s Ministry of Commerce came out with a statement confirming senior US officials had repeatedly expressed their willingness to engage with Beijing about reducing tariffs.
“The US has recently sent messages to China through relevant parties, hoping to start talks with China,” the ministry added. “China is currently evaluating this.”
Following this announcement, Australia’s market jumped, as well as the US S & P 500 futures, although it regressed to just 0.4 per cent on the back of Apple and Amazon quarterly results where the mega caps warned of an uncertain outlook.
IG Market Tony Sycamore said the ASX 200 “incredible” run continues on the back of China talks.
“Just this week, the ASX200 has added an eye-popping 271 points, or 3.40 per cent, its largest weekly gain since December 2023, adding $85 billion to its market cap,” he said.
“Driving its gains today, reports that China is “evaluating” possible US trade talks.”
Reports emerged earlier this week US President Donald Trump was considering reducing tariffs from the current 145 per cent levels to 50-65 per cent for US goods.
Mr Sycamore said this “still leaves tariffs at a growth-stifling high, which suggests the ASX200 exuberance this week may be somewhat premature.”
In company news, Corporate Travel Management sank 10 per cent to $11.70 becoming the latest travel company to fall on an uncertain outlook from the Trump tariffs.
Similar to Flight Centre’s announcement on Monday, Corporate Travel Management reported lower revenue and earnings expectations.
The two major buy now pay later stocks slumped during Friday’s trading.
Block shares crumbled 26.7 per cent to $67.50 after the payments provider announced lower full-year profit guidance, to be the worst performing share on the ASX.
The results were also bad news for major rival zip which also slid 4.92 per cent to $1.64.
Originally published as ‘Sent message’: ASX soars on US, China opening to trade talks
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