Australian shares rise, edge toward new record high
At noon on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 14.2 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 8,610.0 - less than 30 points from its all-time intraday high set three weeks ago, and on track to finish the week 1.1 per cent higher than where it began.
The broader All Ordinaries was up 13.7 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 8,847.3.
The gains follow another record-setting day on Wall Street, where the S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite hit new records after the June non-farm payrolls report showed US employment rising more than expected.
Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda said that while the readout had all but extinguished the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in July, stocks had still reacted positively on relief that the US economy was holding up strongly despite risks from US trade policy and tariffs.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors were in the green at midday, with energy and materials lower.
Tech was the biggest gainer, rising 1.3 per cent. Xero had climbed 1.9 per cent, Life360 had advanced 2.5 per cent and Wisetech Global was up 1.2 per cent.
In the financial sector, CBA was down 0.8 per cent to $178.27, on track for its sixth day of declines out of the past seven sessions since Australia's most valuable company hit an all time-high of $192 on June 25.
The other big four were all in the green, with ANZ up 0.6 per cent, Westpac adding 0.5 per cent and NAB gaining 0.4 per cent.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP had declined 1.6 per cent, Rio Tinto had subtracted 1.7 per cent and South32 had dropped 2.3 per cent.
The Australian dollar was buying 65.68 US cents, from 65.69 US cents at midday on Thursday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
9 News
30 minutes ago
- 9 News
New GST proposal would give everyone $3300 a year. But there's a catch
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here The government is facing a new call to raise the GST but shield low-income earners from the ill effects by handing out a hefty rebate to all taxpayers each year. The new proposal, put forward by teal independent MP Kate Chaney and highly respected economist Richard Holden, would hike the GST from 10 per cent to 15 per cent. At the same time, it would remove the current exemptions for the likes of fresh food and private education and health. Every Australian adult would get a $3300 payment under a new proposal to raise the GST. (Louise Kennerley) In order to ensure low-income earners aren't unfairly impacted by the take hike, Chaney and Holden have proposed a universal $3300 "basics rebate", to be paid to every Australian adult, which would effectively provide a $22,000 GST-free threshold. They say the changes would leave the lowest 60 per cent of income earners better off than under the current system, while at the same time giving the federal budget an extra $23.8 billion in revenue in 2026-27. "Intergenerational inequity is built into our tax system," Chaney said. "Younger generations are facing the growing burden of funding an ageing population and will bear the cost of future interest payments to cover the structural deficit forecast for the next decade. "We have to have courageous conversations about other revenue sources to avoid handballing this problem to future generations." Kate Chaney said the reforms were necessary to address the intergenerational inequality built in to the tax system. (Getty) Holden said the proposal would have the added benefit of allowing the government to cut income tax rates and index them, ending bracket creep in the process, and still provide billions of extra funding for the budget. Ahead of its productivity roundtable this month, the government has faced repeated calls to change the tax system to remove the reliance on personal income tax and fix the structural deficit the budget has fallen into. "Australia's tax system is pretty strange relative to other... advanced economies," Holden told 3AW this morning. "We get about twice as much of our revenue from income tax and about half as much from the GST, or value-added taxes, as other countries. "That's very inefficient, it holds back productivity, it holds back innovation, it has intergenerational problems where it taxes younger people of working age a lot more." Although Treasurer Jim Chalmers is sceptical of raising the GST, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has all but ruled it out, the consumption tax has been cited by economists as an obvious target for reform because it is so efficient. Holden acknowledged politicians had typically been averse to raising the GST, but said he hoped the time was right for the government to embrace the courageous move. While not a fan of changes to the GST, Jim Chalmers has been at pains to avoid ruling anything out ahead of his productivity roundtable, but Anthony Albanese has had no such qualms. (Alex Ellinghausen/SMH) "This moment with the Chalmers economic roundtable is the moment where this has got a little more traction and a little more attention," he said. "So I think that's the question: is the upcoming August 19 roundtable going to be a moment for genuinely thinking about bold ideas?" Senior Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie this morning encouraged the government to use its massive parliamentary majority to properly address tax reform and stagnating productivity. "This is a great opportunity that only comes around every couple of decades," she told Today . "This government's got a huge mandate. They have to use it. "It might get some people off, particularly their traditional stakeholders, but they've got to use it. They've got to be bold." CONTACT US Property News: Rubbish-strewn house overtaken by mould asks $1.2 million.
AU Financial Review
30 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
Mum, we bought a lithium mine! Taxpayers tip into Liontown, but no Gina
Congratulations! You, me and every other Australian taxpayer will soon become the proud owners of a decent chunk of Liontown Resources and its Kathleen Valley lithium mine in Western Australia, after the federal government's $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund said it would invest $50 million of equity into the battling company. But Liontown's biggest shareholder, Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting, will not tip into the $266 million raising, which chief executive Tony Ottaviano says will keep Liontown cash-healthy until at least calendar 2027 at today's sagging lithium prices.
Perth Now
30 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Asian stocks climb, dollar droops on Fed easing bets
Asian equities have risen, with Japanese shares hitting a record high, as tech-led gains on Wall Street, upbeat earnings and growing expectations for US rate cuts boosted sentiment. The prospect of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine also underpinned sentiment, benefiting the euro, while weighing on oil prices as traders gauged the outlook for sanctions on Moscow. Sterling held its ground at a one-week high going into the Bank of England's policy announcement later in the day, with a quarter-point cut widely expected, and the focus falling on a possible three-way split within the board. At the same time, markets largely shook off Trump's latest tariff threats, including an additional 25 per cent tariff on India over purchases of Russian oil and a threatened 100 per cent duty on chips. Japan's broad Topix index rose 0.9 per cent on Thursday to reach an all-time high, with the more tech-focused Nikkei also gaining by about the same margin. Taiwan's stock benchmark surged 2.3 per cent to a more than one-year peak. South Korea's KOSPI added 0.6 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4 per cent, and mainland Chinese blue chips advanced 0.3 per cent. Australian shares edged slightly lower after hitting a record high on Wednesday. US stock futures were buoyant, with those for the S&P 500 up 0.3 per cent and those for the Nasdaq also rising 0.3 per cent. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.7 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2 per cent. "Wall Street seems to have gotten its mojo back," analyst Kyle Rodda wrote in a note. "However, there are persistent risks to the downside. Downside surprises in official data are increasing," he said. "Valuations are also stretched, with forward price to earnings hovering around the highest in four years. And trade uncertainty persists." The US dollar remained lower against major peers on Thursday, with expectations of easier policy from the Federal Reserve stoked both by some disappointing macroeconomic indicators - not least Friday's payrolls report - and Trump's move to install new picks on the Fed board that are likely to share the US President's dovish views on monetary policy. Focus is centred on Trump's nomination to fill a coming vacancy on the Fed's board of governors and candidates for the next chair of the central bank, with current Chair Jerome Powell's tenure due to end in May. The dollar index, which gauges the currency against the euro, sterling and four other counterparts, gained slightly to 98.245, after dropping 0.6 per cent on Wednesday. The euro was little changed at $1.1657, following the previous session's 0.7 per cent jump. Sterling was steady at $1.3356. The BoE looks poised to cut interest rates for the fifth time in 12 months later on Thursday, but nagging worries about inflation are likely to split its policymakers and cloud the outlook for its next moves. Two Monetary Policy Committee members may push for a half-point rate cut, and two may lobby for no change. The dollar added 0.1 per cent to 147.53 yen. Gold gained 0.4 per cent to around $3,382 per ounce, buoyed by the weaker dollar. Crude oil clawed back some losses from Wednesday, when both Brent and West Texas Intermediate slid about 1 per cent. Brent crude futures were last up 20 cents, or 0.3 per cent, at $67.09 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 22 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $64.57 a barrel.
