The S&P/ASX 200 nudged up seven points or 0.1 per cent by mid-session.
Healthcare providers rose for a sixth day. Also strong were tech and consumer stocks. Miners fell for a second session following mixed Chinese economic data yesterday.
What’s driving the market
The ferocious rally since the start of the year has slowed this week after a long weekend in the US and mixed earnings results acted as brakes. Overnight, the Dow and S&P 500 broke four-session win streaks when US trade resumed. The Dow lost 1.14 per cent and the S&P 500 index 0.2 per cent as a big earnings miss from Goldman Sachs weighed.
“After a positive start, equities this week might have to face some tough reality when corporate earnings are out in the US. This could shift the focus on individual stocks and sectors, thereby not producing a broad-based uptick. On Wall Street, weaker quarterly profit for Goldman Sachs hit the stock as well as the Dow index yesterday,” Kunal Sawhney, CEO of research group Kalkine, said.
The Nasdaq eked out a seventh straight advance, rising 0.14 per cent as traders continued to favour growth over value. On the ASX, tech was the morning’s best-performing sector as buyers continued to sift for companies oversold during last year’s fire storm on financial markets.
The improvement in risk appetite this year has been underlined by Bitcoin’s 14-session win streak. Talk of a “digital winter” has faded as digital tokens recoup some of last year’s heavy losses. Bitcoin has put on 24 per cent in seven sessions.
“Bitcoin reached to [US]$21,000, as investors are optimistic that it may have reached its lowest point and that inflation may have peaked. The gains came after a report on consumer prices showed a decline in January inflation numbers. The Federal Reserve is also likely to reduce interest rate increases,” Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder of Mudrex, told Livemint.
Going up
The healthcare sector charged towards a sixth straight advance. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare put on 2.15 per cent, ResMed 2.13 per cent, Ansell 1.28 per cent and CSL 0.6 per cent.
Telix Pharmaceuticals popped 6.99 per cent after turning cash flow positive for the first time last quarter. The company swung from cash outflow of $5.3 million in Q1 to a maiden inflow of $1.6 million last quarter. Cash receipts jumped 62 per cent to $72.2 million. Sales revenues in the US surged 43 per cent.
JB Hi-Fi climbed 3.67 per cent towards an eight-month high on the back of yesterday’s record half-year result. Other retailers to advance included Harvey Norman +3.2 per cent, Premier Investments +1.67 per cent and Wesfarmers +0.81 per cent.
Record December quarter production lifted lithium miner Allkem 0.04 per cent. Output at the miner’s Olaroz facility increased by 17 per cent over the prior corresponding period to a record 4,253 tonnes. Revenues were US$151 million with a gross cash margin of 90 per cent.
The tech sector led as Afterpay owner Block firmed 3.42 per cent, Technology One 1.37 per cent and Iress 1.24 per cent.
Nickel Industries entered a trading halt to tap investors for funds to acquire interests in two producing nickel assets. The company has entered agreements with Shanghai Decent Investment Group to acquire a 10 per cent interest in the PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt Company and an additional 10 per cent interest in the Oracle nickel project.
The $673 million capital raise will also fund the acquisition of “options to collaborate with Shanghai Decent on future battery nickel opportunities”.
Going down
BHP continued to back off record levels following a two-day decline in the price of iron ore. The Big Australian dropped 0.81 per cent.
Gold miner Newcrest shed 0.88 per cent, industrial property heavyweight Goodman Group 1.7 per cent and Woodside Energy 1.03 per cent.
Online creators’ marketplace Redbubble slumped 12.28 per cent after announcing job cuts and other cost savings as consumer demand remains “challenging” in the year ahead. The company will cut 14 per cent of its workforce as it focuses on returning to cash flow positive by year-end.
The departure of chief financial officer Robert Shore “by agreement” helped pull EML Payments down 2.17 per cent. Shore had been in the role for six and a half years. The firm’s European CFO, Jonathan Gatt, will act up until a permanent replacement is appointed.
Other markets
A mixed session on Asian markets saw China’s Shanghai Composite add 0.1 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei tack on 0.67 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.38 per cent. The Asia Dow lost 0.34 per cent.
US futures added to last night’s losses. S&P 500 futures faded nine points or 0.22 per cent.
Oil rose for the sixth time in seven sessions. Brent crude climbed 63 US cents or 0.7 per cent to US$86.55 a barrel.
Gold inched up 30 US cents or 0.02 per cent to US$1,910.20 an ounce.
The dollar was broadly steady at 69.85 US cents.
