ASX's flat start to new financial year
The S & P/ASX 200 finished Tuesday's trading down just 1.20 points or 0.01 per cent to 8,541.10.
The broader All Ordinaries also lost just 1.00 points or 0.01 per cent on Tuesday to 8,772.00.
Australia's dollar continues to appreciate, with the local currency passing the 65.5 US cents overnight. Currently, $1 is buying 65.81 US cents.
Five sectors finished in the green led by technology, consumer facing shares and utilities, while a further six traded lower. The ASX traded flat to star the new financial year. Picture Newswire/ Gaye Gerard. Credit: News Corp Australia
The ASX 200 started the new financial year on a positive note, adding 34 points to reach a high of 8,576 during early trading only to slide back to trading flat by the close.
This was despite a strong lead-in from Wall Street overnight where the S & P rose by 0.5 per cent, while the Dow Jones industrial average added 0.6 per cent and the tech heavy Nasdaq composite reached a new high, up 0.5 per cent.
Australia's tech sector was among the major winners with accounting software provider Xero up 1.2 per cent to $182.03. Life360 jumped 4.4 per cent to $33.59, Dicker Data added 1.3 per cent to $8.18.
The major four banks had a mixed day of trading on Tuesday.
Bourse heavyweight Commonwealth Bank Australia (CBA) lost 1.2 per cent to $182.58, while NAB added 0.9 per cent to $39.70 and Westpac eked out a 0.03 per cent gain to $33.87.
ANZ added 2.5 per cent to $29.89.
Both consumer staples and consumer discretionary gained throughout the days trading. Retail shares were among the bright spots during Tuesday's trading. NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers Credit: News Corp Australia
Woolworths finished up 0.42 per cent to $31.24, while Coles ended the day in the green trading 0.19 per cent higher to $20.88.
JB Hi Fi gained 0.21 per cent to $110.58 while Harvey Norman shares jumped 1.52 per cent to $5.35 and Breville climbed 1.97 to $30.07.
Morningstar director of equity research Johannes Faul said a combination of wages growth and savings rates moving back to normal will all help lift the retail sector.
'Retail sales momentum is building thanks to rising incomes and abating headwinds.
'We believe households have mostly reset their behaviours and expect headwinds from a rising savings rate and a consumption shift to more services to be less pronounced.'
'Although the overall outlook is positive, we expect some categories to fare relatively better.'
In company news Medibank Private soared 5 per cent to an intraday high of $5.31 during early trading after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the business to 'overweight'.
Shares closed up 2.38 per cent to $5.17.
Shares in buy now pay later provider Zip also jumped 4.6 per cent $3.21, for a sixth day of gains as it eyes its year-to-date high of $3.32.
HMC Capital plummeted 17.3 per cent to $4.22 after the fund manager gave an update about its energy transition portfolio and announced new leadership.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AU Financial Review
an hour ago
- AU Financial Review
ASX to rise, Dow extends rally, Tesla slide stalls S&P 500
Australian shares are set to open higher, tracking gains in the Dow. Tech shares were mostly lower, with Tesla dropping and dragging on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Shares in Tesla slumped more than 5 per cent as Elon Musk and President Donald Trump renewed their feud over Trump's signature legislative tax bill. Trump threatened to withdraw subsidies from Musk's companies and review the billionaire's immigration status. In Portugal, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell reiterated that the Fed probably would have cut interest rates if not for the uncertainty from Trump's tariff policy. The US Senate approved by one vote Trump's tax bill, which now returns to the House of Representatives for another vote. Market highlights ASX futures are pointing up 21 points or 0.3 per cent to 8561. All US prices as of 2.25pm New York time. Today's agenda The focus on Wednesday will be on May retail sales and building approvals data set for release at 11.30am. In a note, NAB said it forecasts a 0.6 increase month-over-month in retail sales. 'The consumer had a subdued start to the year, but we expect the April 0.1 per cent fall in retail sales understates momentum.' eToro's Josh Gilbert said 'it has been a difficult stretch for retailers, with results coming in well below forecasts over the last few months. 'Markets are predicting a 0.3 per cent improvement in June and with CPI recording a drop last week, promising employment figures and a rate cut on the cards for July, the Aussie economy is looking healthier by the month. Sales figures for the EOFY period will likely reflect that.' In the US, there will be June's ADP private payrolls report, one day in advance of the government's nonfarm payrolls data. The European Central Bank will conclude its annual Sintra gathering on Wednesday. Cyberattacks on super funds threaten banking system, Labor warned | In a briefing to the government, APRA says cyberattacks on super funds will increase, and future shocks to the $4.1 trillion sector could spill over to the banks. 'Urgent, serious' risk of smelter closure, says Nyrstar | The metal processor says it is weeks away from closing plants in South Australia and Tasmania if it does not secure support from federal and state governments. Super giant turns to Japan amid Trump trade fears | The country's second-biggest superannuation fund is investing more heavily in Japan at the expense of local shares and the US. Chanticleer: Suck it up buttercup, keep going: David Di Pilla's advice to himself | HMC Capital shares tanked as it outlined a new, smaller energy transition investment arm to be run by a new executive. The stocks are down 66 per cent since their peak in November. It's a big test.
Perth Now
8 hours ago
- Perth Now
Insane time it takes to build a house in 2025
Construction time for an average home has increased by a whopping 50 per cent in the past year, with Australia's ambitious 1.2 million homes target already 55,300 homes behind just one year in. While a house took about 8.5 months to build from approval to completion in 2014, it took an average of 12.7 months in 2024, data compiled by the Institute of Public Affairs has revealed. Costs for building materials had also increased by 53 per cent in the same period. Construction times increased across the board in 2021 as a result of supply-chain issues during the Covid pandemic. The lacklustre figures come as Australia marks one year into the five-year National Housing Accords, in which states and territories must build a combined 1.2 million well-located homes by June 30, 2029. The Commonwealth government has also encouraged states and territories with a $3.5bn funding pot as a carrot for reaching the goal. Between 2014 to 2024, the time it takes to build a home has increased by 50 per cent to a national average of 12.7 months. NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia Using building activity data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the IPA found Western Australia was leading the construction lag, with an unenviable increase of 85 per cent to 17.8 months. Building costs have also increased by 45 per cent. South Australia had the next slowest builds of 15.8 months, a hike of 74 per cent, with cost going up by 51 per cent. Over 10 years, the cost of materials had increased by 58 per cent in both NSW and Queensland, where it now respectively takes 12.7 months and 10.2 months to build a detached home. It takes 11.3 months to build a home in Victoria, and 12.6 months to complete a home in Tasmania, with material prices increasing by 56 per cent and 55 per cent. IPA research director Morgan Begg said it was 'little wonder' that Australia was in a housing crisis, with the 'unprecedented demand' for housing being exacerbated by increased construction time and costs. 'The federal government's National Housing Accord will mark its first-year anniversary being tens of thousands of homes behind schedule, as red tape strangles new home builds, with construction times ballooning by 50 per cent,' he said. 'Home ownership is fundamental to the Australian way of life. It gives people a stake in our country and provides long-term financial security for families.' Mr Begg said 'all levels of government must do their part to fix this crisis,' highlighting action points like reducing migration, urging state and local governments to open up more land and cut red tape to boost construction. 'Over the past decade Australia has seen demand-driven cost increases to construction material and labour caused by large, inefficient government projects, creating the perfect storm of rising prices and rents, particularly in the post-pandemic period,' he said. 'Across the board, the latest figures reinforce the depth of Australia's housing crisis, brought about by out-of-control migration intakes, a construction sector burdened by red tape, and competition for resources from large, expensive, and inefficient taxpayer-funded projects.' Coalition housing spokesman Andrew Bragg accused Labor of being 'more interested in announcing targets and building bureaucracies than actually erecting any homes'. NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Coalition housing spokesman Andrew Bragg said the housing targets were a 'dead duck,' adding that completed dwellings had dropped by 1 per cent over the last 12 months, according to the ABS. 'A year since Labor's Housing Accord 'officially began', building approvals and activity have gone backwards,' he said. 'Labor is more interested in announcing targets and building bureaucracies than actually erecting any homes. 'Labor's actions show they don't support private developers and builders. They think they know better. No wonder the construction industry has consistently led the nation in insolvencies.' Housing Minister Clare O'Neil has flagged reforming building regulations in a second-term Albanese government. NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Housing Minister Clare O'Neil has previously said reducing the 'thicket of regulation' around building homes will be a key priority in Labor's next term of government. As of June, the Hotham MP will also oversee planning policy after she inherited it from the the treasurer's portfolio. A spokesman for Ms O'Neil said on Tuesday Labor had been 'very frank' that building homes both costed too much and took too long. He said Labor was focused on 'working closely with all levels of government and builders to try and fix that,' while also 'increasing productivity, encouraging the building sector to look at more modern methods of building and improving planning pathways and removing red tape'. 'The Liberals can run their mouths, but the reality is they haven't put forward a single legitimate proposition that would increase the number of homes being built in Australia – in fact, their solution was to rip billions of dollars from funding for tens of thousands of social and affordable homes,' he said. 'Talk to anyone who knows the residential building sector and they will tell you that structural reform takes time, and building homes takes time, and the Commonwealth is doing that work. In contrast, the Liberal Party didn't touch that work in their last decade in office.'
Sky News AU
12 hours ago
- Sky News AU
US stock market ‘normalising' as Americans get used to Trump 2.0
Sky News contributor Kosha Gada says the US stockmarket is 'normalising' as Americans are getting used to Trump's second term. Australia is awaiting to hear if President Trump will impose trade tariffs as leaders around the world prepare for a second Liberation Day announcement. 'The S&P is something shy of three percentage points above where it was on Inauguration Day,' Ms Gada said.
