ASX 200 ups half a per cent on Wednesday after RBA delivers Aussie home owners their second interest rate cut of 2025
The ASX 200 is up about half a per cent on Wednesday as investors are buoyed by the RBA's second rate cut of the year.
Mining and materials stocks are leading the charge in the first 20 minutes of trading on Wednesday.
Emerald Resources is up more than seven per cent since the market opened while Evolution Mining has jumped 4.6 per cent and Bellevue Gold has surged 3.5 per cent.
The surge follows the RBA handing down its second rate cut of 2025 as trimmed mean inflation has fallen into the central bank's 2-3 per cent target range.
The index ticked up after the cut and RBA Governor Michele Bullock telling reports the central bank was considering a 50 basis point cut.
"There was a bit of a discussion about hold, and that was sort of put aside pretty quickly," Ms Bullock said on Tuesday.
"The discussion then was about cut and how big and there was a discussion about 50 and 25. The board was of the view that 25 was the right number on this occasion."
Major indexes on Wall Street all slumped on Tuesday (local time) after surging over the past month to recover their post 'Liberation Day' losses.
The S&P 500 sank 0.4 per cent, the Dow Jones finished down 0.3 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 0.4 per cent.
London's FTSE 250 rose 0.7 per cent per cent while Germany's DAX jumped 0.4 per cent and the EURO STOXX 50 Index finished up half a per cent.
New Zealand's NZX 50 Index is up 0.5 per cent since trading began on Wednesday.
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ON THE ASX: * The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday 23.2 points lower, down 0.27 per cent to 8,515.7 * The broader All Ordinaries fell 26.7 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8,741.9 CURRENCY SNAPSHOT: One Australian dollar buys: * 64.97 US cents, from 64.96 US cents on Thursday at 5pm * 93.56 Japanese yen, from 93.03 Japanese yen * 56.81 Euro cents, from 56.93 Euro cents * 47.95 British pence, from 47.95 pence * 107.58 NZ cents, from 107.70 NZ cents The Australian share market has slipped after again approaching its best-ever close, fading ahead of key US economic data and a long weekend in most Australian states. The S&P/ASX200 traded a tight range on Friday to finish 23.2 points lower, down 0.27 per cent to 8,515.7, as the broader All Ordinaries slipped 26.7 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8,741.9. 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The brighter trade horizon weighed on critical minerals miners after China's export controls pushed them higher on Thursday, leaving Pilbara Minerals (down 5.2 per cent) and Iluka Resources (down 3.8 per cent) among the top 200's worst performers on Friday. Goldminers were a mixed bag all week, as the precious metal continued to chop within a range, with futures at $US3,384 ($A5,210) an ounce. Cryptocurrency Bitcoin slipped almost five per cent overnight but has recovered some of its losses to trade about $US103,200 ($A158,860), with no fundamental catalyst behind the dip, trading platform OKX's Australian boss Kate Cooper said. "The modest 5.6 per cent dip in the global cryptocurrency market cap today reflects broader market volatility, as participants react to the European Central Bank's downward revision of inflation expectations and reassess growth prospects," she said. Qantas was among the ASX's best-performing large cap stocks, up 3.5 per cent to $10.76 as competitor Virgin Australia confirmed it would relist on the ASX on June 24 with an expected market cap of $2.3 billion. Gold explorer and developer Ora Banda took the wooden spoon, down 14 per cent after a production update failed to shine. The Australian dollar is buying 64.97 US cents, roughly on par with Thursday at 5pm, but at the upper end of its recent range against the greenback. ON THE ASX: * The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday 23.2 points lower, down 0.27 per cent to 8,515.7 * The broader All Ordinaries fell 26.7 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8,741.9 CURRENCY SNAPSHOT: One Australian dollar buys: * 64.97 US cents, from 64.96 US cents on Thursday at 5pm * 93.56 Japanese yen, from 93.03 Japanese yen * 56.81 Euro cents, from 56.93 Euro cents * 47.95 British pence, from 47.95 pence * 107.58 NZ cents, from 107.70 NZ cents The Australian share market has slipped after again approaching its best-ever close, fading ahead of key US economic data and a long weekend in most Australian states. The S&P/ASX200 traded a tight range on Friday to finish 23.2 points lower, down 0.27 per cent to 8,515.7, as the broader All Ordinaries slipped 26.7 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8,741.9. The top 200 gained roughly one per cent for the week but failed to hold above its record close of 8,555.8 for a second straight day, as investors took profits ahead of a trading break on Monday and two potentially volatile US sessions before the next ASX open. With the local bourse so close to its record, some investors were asking if they were looking at a high-water mark, Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said. "With US debt concerns getting louder, investors are questioning whether markets could be due for a haircut," she told AAP. "But I think that'll be tested tonight when we get US jobs data, and if it really is weaker than expected then that will smash sentiment." Nine of 11 local sectors finished lower but energy shares offered some relief, up 0.7 per cent as hopes of resumed US-China trade talks pushed oil prices higher. Brent crude prices are up more than 3.5 per cent for the week, to $US64.86 a barrel, after a phone call between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping raised hopes for global growth and crude demand from the world's two largest economies. Financials weighed on the bourse, down 0.4 per cent as investors took profits on the banks. CBA was the big four's worst performer on Friday, fading 0.8 per cent after hitting a fresh peak of $182 on Thursday. Zooming out, the sector was up 1.9 per cent for the week and holding above its record close in February. Liquidity rotation from the banks and glimmers of global trade hopes helped push BHP and Fortescue higher, but it was not enough to stop the materials sector from slipping 0.1 per cent after a 1.4 per cent gain for the week. The brighter trade horizon weighed on critical minerals miners after China's export controls pushed them higher on Thursday, leaving Pilbara Minerals (down 5.2 per cent) and Iluka Resources (down 3.8 per cent) among the top 200's worst performers on Friday. Goldminers were a mixed bag all week, as the precious metal continued to chop within a range, with futures at $US3,384 ($A5,210) an ounce. Cryptocurrency Bitcoin slipped almost five per cent overnight but has recovered some of its losses to trade about $US103,200 ($A158,860), with no fundamental catalyst behind the dip, trading platform OKX's Australian boss Kate Cooper said. "The modest 5.6 per cent dip in the global cryptocurrency market cap today reflects broader market volatility, as participants react to the European Central Bank's downward revision of inflation expectations and reassess growth prospects," she said. Qantas was among the ASX's best-performing large cap stocks, up 3.5 per cent to $10.76 as competitor Virgin Australia confirmed it would relist on the ASX on June 24 with an expected market cap of $2.3 billion. Gold explorer and developer Ora Banda took the wooden spoon, down 14 per cent after a production update failed to shine. The Australian dollar is buying 64.97 US cents, roughly on par with Thursday at 5pm, but at the upper end of its recent range against the greenback. ON THE ASX: * The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday 23.2 points lower, down 0.27 per cent to 8,515.7 * The broader All Ordinaries fell 26.7 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8,741.9 CURRENCY SNAPSHOT: One Australian dollar buys: * 64.97 US cents, from 64.96 US cents on Thursday at 5pm * 93.56 Japanese yen, from 93.03 Japanese yen * 56.81 Euro cents, from 56.93 Euro cents * 47.95 British pence, from 47.95 pence * 107.58 NZ cents, from 107.70 NZ cents
