Good Morning Fellow Traders,
Thanks @Quantum Torus @Ravgnome and AM Loungers. Good news from @dante about his grandson's progress on the health front. Oh - and Trump and Xi Jinping have kicked the can down the road for three months - woo hoo!
The Australian share market surged higher following a 90-day truce on tariffs between the US and China, with energy and mining stocks recording significant gains.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 104 points, or 1.84 per cent, at 5771.2 on Monday, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 1.86 per cent.
The weekend's trade breakthrough between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina provided a much-needed kick-start for markets across the region and lifted oil prices.
"The market has generally been just hungry for any sort of good news and any sign that things aren't falling apart in the relationship between the US and China," CommSec chief market analyst Steven Daghlian told AAP.
The energy sector closed more than four-and-a-half per cent higher but Mr Daghlian said it was important to relate the bounce to recent doldrums.
The ASX lost ground for the last three consecutive months and is down about five per cent from where it started the year.
"Keep in mind that energy stocks have been some of the worst performers for an extended period of time," he said.
"They've dropped about 20 per cent in the prior two months."
Santos led gains for energy stocks, up 8.7 per cent to $6.00 after announcing gas from its third and final Bayu Undan well, with the project to deliver under budget and ahead of schedule.
Origin, Oil Search, Woodside, New Hope and White Haven climbed between 3.5 and six per cent.
The minerals sector was nearly three per cent higher with South32 leaping 7.1 per cent to $3.32 after commencing bedrock testing at its Balladonia nickel project in Western Australia.
BlueScope Steel shot nearly 12 per cent higher to $12.55 on launching a new $250 million buyback, Fortescue was up 4.3 per cent, while giants BHP and Rio Tinto were 3.7 and 2.3 per cent higher respectively.
The health care sector was buoyed by benchmark CSL which rose 3.4 per cent to $183.49, while ResMed and Cochlear were both 2.2 per cent higher.
Macquarie lifted the financial sector with a 2.8 per cent gain, but the big four lenders recorded mixed results.
Westpac was strongest, up 1.1 per cent to $26.25, Commonwealth gained 0.5 per cent, but ANZ and NAB were 0.3 and 0.1 per cent weaker.
Consumer staples climbed nearly two per cent despite the continued weakness of Coles and IGA and Foodland supplier Metcash falling more than five per cent after flagging tough times for supermarkets.
The temporary resolution between the US and China also strengthened the Australian dollar to a multi-month peak.
The Aussie was buying 73.65 US cents at 1630 AEDT up from 73.15 on Friday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 104 points, or 1.84 per cent, at 5771.2
* The All Ordinaries was down 107 points, or 1.86 per cent, at 5856.3
* At 1630 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was up 96 points, or 1.69 per cent, at 5770
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 73.65 US cents, from 73.15 US cents cents on Friday
* 83.63 Japanese yen, from 82.92
* 64.91 euro cents, from 64.20
* 57.68 British pence, from 57.23
* 106.60 NZ cents, from 106.61
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1630 AEDT was $US1225.33 per fine ounce, from $US1224.83 on Friday.
Wall Street’s major indexes rallied on Monday following a trade truce between the United States and China, whose tensions have clouded the outlook for the stock market for much of the year.
The benchmark S&P 500
.SPX gained nearly 1 percent, building off of its biggest weekly percentage gain in nearly seven years a week ago, although the index had come off its earlier session highs in afternoon trading.
Investors were lifted by news over the weekend that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to hold off on new tariffs during talks in Argentina, declaring a truce following months of escalating tensions on trade and other issues.
“Today is mostly about celebrating the fact that the U.S. and China have delayed what could have been the some of the worst-case scenarios regarding their trade relations,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors.
Still, Arone noted that “there are still some very sticky issues that need to be resolved” between the world’s two biggest economies.
“We still have a long way to go to have what is an agreed-upon trading relationship between the U.S. and China, so I think that is a little bit of the pullback from the highs of the day as that settles in with investors,” Arone said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI rose 232.91 points, or 0.91 percent, to 25,771.37, the S&P 500
.SPX gained 23.68 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,783.85 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 86.92 points, or 1.19 percent, to 7,417.46.
Last week, the S&P 500 gained 4.8 percent, rebounding after confirming its second 10 percent correction of the year, as investors interpreted commentary from the Federal Reserve as signaling that U.S. interest rate hikes may be less aggressive than feared.
On Monday, the technology sector .SPLRCT, among the groups seen as sensitive to trade tensions, gained 1.7 percent. Apple (
AAPL.O) shares, recently hit by worries over possible tariffs on iPhones, gained 2.3 percent.
Shares of Boeing (
BA.N) and Caterpillar (
CAT.N), two industrial companies viewed as trade bellwethers, gained 3.5 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, and gave a lift to the blue-chip Dow. The industrial sector .SPLRCI rose 1.2 percent.
Energy shares .SPNY rose 2.0 percent as oil prices bounced back from their recent swoon. Along with the U.S.-China trade detente, oil got support as Canada’s Alberta province ordered a production cut, while exporter group OPEC looked set to reduce supply.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.38-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.48-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 38 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 68 new highs and 61 new lows.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
A breakfast that's healthy and yummy - Bircher Muesli, Assorted Berries and Almonds. A Spinach and Banana Smoothie.
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