ASX follows US lead for broad gains

Perth Now

2 days ago

The Australian sharemarket has followed a bullish lead from the US, with all sectors finishing well into the green on Tuesday.
The S&P/ASX200 finished with a 1.2 per cent gain, tacking on 106 points to close at 8770, six points shy of the record recorded last month.
The All Ords rose 1.2 per cent, while interest rate sensitive discretionary and financial shares were the biggest gainers.
Expectations of a rate cut in the US are nearing 90 per cent, and the local bourse followed Wall Street's green sweep into Tuesday trading. Overnight the three major US indexes had their largest daily gains since May.
'The rally came after the bulls wrestled back control on Wall Street overnight, as the prospect of a sooner and deeper Fed rate cuts offset slowdown concerns stemming from last Friday's weak jobs report,' IG analyst Tony Sycamore said.
'The US interest rate market is now fully priced for a 25bp rate cut in September, with a cumulative 63 basis points of rate cuts expected between now and the end of the year.'
Commonwealth Bank says a layer of uncertainty has been removed from the global economy with confirmation of 10 per cent baseline US tariffs, which will produce modest gains for the Aussie Dollar this week.
Across the ASX on Tuesday, rare earth stocks benefited from talk of a floor price to counter China's massive industrial subsidies. Commonwealth Bank says the baseline US tariff confirmation removes a layer of uncertainty for investors. NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar Credit: NCA NewsWire
Critical mineralist Iluka Resources rocketed to a 8.6 per cent gain ($5.78), and Lynas Rare Earths spiked 5.2 per cent on the back of its presentation to a major conference in Kalgoorlie.
All 50 of the ASX's largest firms — except South32 — finished in the green, led by gains for sleep apnoea equipment firm Resmed (3.9 per cent), investors Washington H Soul Pattinson and Company (2.8 per cent) and Wesfarmers (2.8 per cent).
NAB, Goodman, ANZ, Woodside, Westpac and Commonwealth all gained between 1.3 and 1.6 per cent.
Commonwealth Bank's pick-up came after an announcement it had set aside $130m to transition Bankwest to a fully digital brand while absorbing its business banking.
Investors were keen on TPG Telecom until they weren't, with the telco's share price starting hot and quickly descending into negative territory.
Ratings agency S&P detailed reasons for its negative outlook on TPG, sinking the share price 0.4 per cent ($5.50).
Credit Corp recorded a sharp 16 per cent gain following release of full-year profits, largely down to debt recoveries in the US.
Ahead of financials, it was the ASX discretionary sector making leaps and bounds on Tuesday.
Multinational English-language training provider Idp Education rose almost eight per cent ($3.93), while fragrance house Dusk lifted 5.7 per cent ($0.92).
Propel Funeral Partners, skateboard company Globe and heating and cooling equipment seller Adrad all gained more than five per cent.
These consumer stocks followed Wall Street's lead, as did the Asian markets.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7 per cent, with South Korean shares jumping 1.6 per cent.
The US President's threat to penalise India for buying Russian oil steadied the commodity's price following a three-day slide.