Happy Friday!
Who are you rooting for in the footy today?
We’ve got some Carlton supporters here @PeakHQ, so looks like a few (or many) pints will be had…
Enjoy the weekend.
Across Markets…
The sharemarket climbed 1.3 per cent in broad gains on Friday after better-than-expected Chinese and US data boosted optimism about the health of the global economy. It ended the week 1.7 per cent higher.
Miners, from gold to lithium and iron ore, were the clear outperformers. Heavyweights Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue Metals vaulted after the price of iron ore price jumped to the highest in six months.
Shares in Rio Tinto rallied 3 per cent to $118.9 and posted the biggest weekly increase since November last year.
BHP Group powered up 3.5 per cent to $45.68. Meanwhile, Fortescue pushed 4 per cent higher to $21.22. It has stormed almost 10 per cent this week.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 92.5 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 7279. The All Ordinaries also rose 1.3 per cent.
Qantas shares trimmed earlier gains to be up 0.4 per cent at $5.61. They started the session 1.3 per cent higher, defying another blow by the competition watchdog. The ACCC has denied Qantas the right to tie up with China Eastern Airlines, saying the collaboration would give the airline too much power to drive up prices.
Woodside rose 1.3 per cent to $38.39. The oil and gas company delayed, again, a seismic survey for its $16.5 billion Scarborough LNG project in Western Australia after a Federal Court decision yesterday to grant an injunction on the start of the work.
Ramsay Health Care edged up 0.2 per cent to $51.61 despite Fitch Ratings’ credit downgrade to BBB- due to elevated debt levels.
Wholesale retailer Metcash dipped 0.5 per cent to $3.7 after reporting a small 1.7 per cent gain in total group sales as the increased cost of living affected shoppers’ behaviour.