ASX shares jump despite Wall Street wobbles

A surge in energy stocks and Australia’s major miners has driven the ASX 200 higher.

The Australian sharemarket has bucked the trend from Wall Street with energy, resources and a record breaking gold price seeing the ASX 200 surge higher ahead of the long-weekend.

The benchmark ASX 200 index gained 60.20 points or 0.78 per cent to close at 7,819.10

The broader All Ordinaries also jumped 60.20 points or 0.76 per cent to 8,021.90.

The Australian dollar fell slightly and is now buying 63.41 US cents.

On an overall positive day for the market, ten of the 11 sectors finished the week in the green, with only the healthcare sector giving up ground.

ASX stocks closed the week higher, despite weakness on Wall Street. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Energy stocks led gains, with the sector surging 3.8 per cent as the price of crude oil strengthened after huge falls since the US tariff announcement.

Crude is currently trading at $US62.94 a barrel, after slumping from $US71 to a low of $US58 on the back of fears US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans could slow down global growth.

Ampol surged 7.70 per cent to $22.24, while Woodside jumped 3.5 per cent to $19.99, Santos rose 3.1 per cent to $5.66 and Beach Energy surged 4.9 per cent to $1.18. ‘

Gold stocks were also the major winner of the day, as investors continue to pile into the safe haven asset.

The price of gold hit a fresh high above $US3,330 per ounce for the first time in history. North Star Resources rose 1.18 per cent to $22.35, Evolution is up 1.68 per cent to $8.46 and De Grey Mining closed Thursday’s trading up 1.15 per cent to $2.64.

The major iron ore producers also gained ground with BHP lifting 1.14 per cent to $36.48, Rio Tinto soared 2.93 per cent to $111.54 and Fortescue Metals rose 0.94 per cent to $15.09

IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said a combination of light trading volume at the end of the week and recovering commodity prices helped drive the ASX higher.

“Energy did well, the big miners did well today,” he said.

“Its been a long time since we’ve seen those guys actually put their hands up and lead the charge, so that was nice to see.”

Ten of the 11 sectors capped the week off in the green. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

The bounce in Australian shares came despite Wall Street slumping overnight after chip maker Nvidia was given new orders on the types of products it can send to China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.7 per cent, or nearly 700 points to 39,669.39. The S & P 500 fell a further 120.93 points or 2.2 per cent to 5,275.70, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dragged 516 points or 3.1 per cent to 16,307.16.

Despite the bounce in share price for the major iron ore miners, Mr Sycamore said there was a downgrade in China’s GDP forecasts, which is usually a bellwether for these stocks.

The big four banks were mixed, as Commonwealth Bank rose 0.8 per cent to $160.64 and ANZ finished slightly in the green up 0.3 per cent to $28.01.

National Australia Bank dropped 0.4 per cent to $33.98 and Westpac fell 0.5 per cent to $31.06.

In company news shares in Challengers surged 10.2 per cent to $6.80 on the back of its latest market guidance. The business announced annuity sales during the March quarter were up by 20 per cent to over $1bn although funds under management dipped 5 per cent to $115.2bn.

Originally published as ASX shares jump despite Wall Street wobbles