How was your Monday?
It’s been an emotional one for WA, as Premier Mark McGowan announced he is retiring from politics.
The 55-year-old was re-elected for a second term in 2021 in an extraordinary landslide, winning 53 of the 59 seats in the state’s lower house.
The next WA election is not due until March 2025.
Click here to read more.
Across Markets…
The S&P/ASX 200 added 0.9 per cent, or 62.6 points, to 7217.4 on Monday, buoyed by mining and real estate stocks, as investors cheered a tentative deal to raise the US debt ceiling.
IDP Education sank 15.9 per cent to $$21.71 following Canada’s decision to allow competitors to enter the Student-Direct-Stream (SDS) component of student visas.
Select Harvests climbed 8.7 per cent to $4.74 after flagging improved conditions for its 2024 crop.
Humm Group advanced 7.7 per cent to 42¢ after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission revoked the stop order placed on Humm’s buy now, pay later subsidiary.
ALS dropped 4.2 per cent to $11.75 after reporting that its underlying continuing net profit after tax jumped 23.4 per cent in FY23 to $321 million.
Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Monday to its highest level since July 1990, buoyed by optimism over a US debt ceiling deal and a weaker yen.
Shares of Japanese chip-related companies continued to outperform after AI euphoria lifted Wall Street peers. The Nikkei jumped as high as 31,560.43 within the first 10 minutes of trading, although gains mitigated to see the index enter the midday break up 1.32 per cent at 31,325.84, close to the session low.
U.S President Joe Biden said on Sunday he had finalised a budget agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and the deal was ready to move to Congress for a vote. However, the deal has drawn fire from hardline Republicans and progressive Democrats.