By Daniel Lo Surdo
Welcome to your five-minute recap of the trading day.
The numbers
The Australian sharemarket roared to the finish line on Monday, posting its best session in six months as investors put the troubles of last week behind them.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 134.6 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 8201.6 points at close, after losing 2.8 per cent over the past week. All 11 industry sectors were in the green, with financial, real estate and consumer stocks among the biggest winners.
The Australian dollar traded flat, and was valued at US62.61¢as at 5.03pm.
The ASX narrowly avoided a festive fumble on Monday morning after a key system for processing trades was hampered by a glitch on Friday.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
The lifters
Commonwealth Bank – the largest stock on the ASX - rose 2.9 per cent, and was followed into the green by ANZ (up 2.4 per cent), Westpac (up 2 per cent) and NAB (up 2.1 per cent). Macquarie gained 2.2 per cent, while Suncorp (up 3.2 per cent) and QBE (up 1.1 per cent) also moved up.
Digital financial services firm Zip Co. was one of the biggest winners on Monday, adding 4.6 per cent.
The real estate sector (up 2 per cent) grew, with Goodman Group (up 1.8 per cent), Scentre Group (up 1.8 per cent) and Mirvac Group (up 3.4 per cent) all closing firmly in the green. Kmart and Bunnings owner Wesfarmers (up 3.3 per cent) rose, while JB Hi-Fi (up 3.7 per cent) and Aristocrat Leisure (up 1.1 per cent) also advanced.
Mining giants BHP (up 0.8 per cent), Fortescue (up 1.1 per cent) and Rio Tinto (up 0.3 per cent) rose, while gold miners Newmont (up 3.3 per cent) and Northern Star Resources (up 1.6 per cent) traded positively after facing significant losses last week as the gold price tumbled to its lowest price in a month.
Woodside Energy (up 1.6 per cent) and Santos (up 1.3 per cent) propped up the energy sector.
Mineral explorer Deep Yellow (up 7 per cent) recouped some of the losses it faced last week, after telling shareholders it wouldn’t make a final investment decision on its Tumas uranium mine in Namibia until early March amid delayed costings and quotes for equipment and construction.
The laggards
Shares in EML Payments fell 22.2 per cent, after the board sacked chief executive Ron Hynes. In an announcement to shareholders, the board said it had found that “alternate leadership is required to execute the company’s strategy”.
New Zealand utility giants Mercury (down 4.5 per cent) and Meridian Energy (down 1.7 per cent) both slid, weighing down gains from the rest of the sector.
The lowdown
Better than expected core personal consumption expenditure inflation data – released in the US on Friday – positioned the ASX for a strong performance on Monday, after a difficult week spurred on by the prospect of fewer interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve in 2025 than previously expected.
Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said that softer inflation figures gave the “green light” for another surge to occur. “Santa has put his suit back on, and the Christmas rally that everyone wanted has come into play,” Amir said.
Trading was at risk ahead of the Christmas week, with the market operator unable to resolve a technical issue with the CHESS system used for processing investor trades until Sunday.
Meanwhile in the US, the S&P500 rose 1.1 per cent on Friday to post its best day in six weeks and shave its loss for the week down to 2 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 498 points, or 1.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1 per cent.
Superstar stock Nvidia and other big tech companies led the market, which got a lift after the release of Friday’s inflation figures.
Tweet of the day
Quote of the day
“This agreement is a victory for News Corp shareholders, DAZN, and sports fans in Australia and around the world.”
News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson, in a message to shareholders announcing an agreement to sell Foxtel to DAZN for $3.4 billion. News Corp will hold a 6 per cent equity interest in DAZN and hold a seat on the company’s board of directors as part of the deal. Shares in News Corp rose 3.3 per cent on Monday.
You may have missed
Nine’s departing sales chief, Michael Stephenson, has picked up a new gig at Kyle and Jackie O show owners ARN Media, joining the company as its new chief operating officer.
Stephenson, who announced his resignation from Nine Entertainment (the owner of this masthead) last week after 18 years at the company, lands at ARN as it’s looking to free up cash after signing Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson to a landmark $200 million contract.
With AP
The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.