Strong gains in global equities set the tone for a rally in the Aussie sharemarket, with the ASX 200 recording its best day in roughly 3½ weeks after adding 109.6 pts or 1.65 per cent, to 6759.2. All sectors finished higher for the 10th time this year, with Tech climbing most. The ASX 200’s heavy-weight Material & Financial sectors recorded their best daily gains in around a month, climbing by 2.5 per cent and 1.36 per cent, respectively. Energy shares posted their third straight win (up 1.38 per cent today) on the back of a 6.8 per cent rise in the oil price (week-to-date). 180 stocks finished higher.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank (RBA) Governor delivered a speech and intimated a goal of lifting the cash rate to 2.5 per cent. Money market traders are pricing in a 3.5 per cent cash rate by December. The RBA Governor also said that there is “little evidence” of a 1970’s-style ‘self-reinforcing’ inflation cycle. The Reserve Bank Governor highlighted that inflation psychology, the reaction of households and productivity are key issues in setting interest rates and how the inflation rate evolves.
In company news, Megaport (MP1) was the best performer (climbing 23 per cent) after releasing a quarterly update this morning. MP1 says that it will deliver a positive EBITDA for the first time, after its Canadian & Japanese businesses become profitable ‘ahead of schedule’. MP1 also said that its quarterly revenues increased by 10 per cent, while its monthly recurring revenues climbed by 13 per cent over the quarter. MP1 holds ‘more than $80 million’ in cash.
Northern Star Resources (NST) provided a fourth quarter update, highlighting that its FY22 gold sales fell 2 per cent over the year to 1,561 koz (lower end of its guidance). Its all-in-sustaining costs were A$1,633 per ounce (upper end of its A$1,600-1,640 per ounce guidance range). NST finished 2.1 per cent higher and clawed back its gains after being down by as much as 2.4 per cent in early trade.
Bubs Australia (BUB) released its quarterly report today, outlining a 278 per cent quarterly lift in its revenue to $48.1m. Its sales were driven by a 523 per cent increase in its Chinese division (which now
makes up ~64 per cent of its 4Q sales), and a 265 per cent increase in its International sales (which now takes up 25 per cent of its 4Q sales). BUB holds $16.3 million in cash, and expects its FY22 underlying EBITDA to be greater than $2.4 million.
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Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) is expected to resume trade tomorrow after entering into a trading halt earlier this week to raise $3.5 billion from the market to help pay for its $4.9 billion acquisition of Suncorp Bank.
3.2bn shares were traded, worth $6.6bn. 1,003 stocks rose, 401 fell & 340 finished unchanged.
In the US, existing home sales data is released. Telsa is scheduled to post its quarterly earnings tonight.
Originally published by Divik Nigam – (Author), CommSec
