The Australian share market closed higher, reaching 7 month highs in the process, buoyed by positive sentiment
from Wall St overnight. This is off the back of comments by the Chairman of the Federal Reserve signalling a slowing
down in the pace of rate hikes. The ASX 200 index rose 1 per cent or 70.2 points to 7354.4. 9 (of 11) sectors gained
ground. Materials were the best performing sector, driven by iron ore and gold miners with Ramelius Resources (RMS) being the best performer rising 10.5 per cent. Fortescue Metals (FMG) rose 3 per cent and BHP (BHP) added 2.1 per cent. Energy and Healthcare were the only sectors to lose ground, weighed by losses in Woodside Energy
(WDS) which closed 1.7 per cent lower and CSL (CSL) which fell 0.5 per cent.
In company news, Domino’s Pizza (DMP) announced an equity capital raising of $165 million, of which $15 million will involve a ‘Non-underwritten share purchase plan’. The purpose of the raise is to, ‘fund payment of the option
exercise price to Domino’s Pizza Group’ for the purchase of DPG shares in Germany, with surplus funds to be applied to ‘debt retirement’. DMP announced a trading halt to facilitate the capital raise.
Hearing aid manufacturer Cochlear Limited (COH) closed 0.5 per cent lower after the ACCC published a statement of issues, raising concerns over the companies proposed acquisition of Otican Medical. In response, COH announced
that ‘Cochlear does not believe the proposed acquisition will reduce competition’. The company noted that the acquisition will provide COH with ‘greater scale’ and increase investments in ‘R&D and market growth activities’.
Integrated service company Downer EDI (DOW) fell 2.3 per cent following an announcement of leadership change. The company announced the retirement of the current CEO in February 2023 and to be replaced by the current COO of the company.
Ahead: In the US, personal income & spending data will be released. Included is the key measure of inflation – the core PCE deflator. Also issued is construction work done, weekly jobless claims, ISM manufacturing and PMI manufacturing and Challenger job cuts.
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Today, 3.6bn shares were traded, worth $7.7bn. 848 stocks rose, 515 fell & 407 finished unchanged.
Originally published by CommSec
