The Australian sharemarket capped its best week of the year so far on Friday, after rate cuts from two major central banks buoyed interest rate hopes heading into the long weekend.
On Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 per cent or 38.2 points to 7860 points, ending less than 50 points shy of its record close touched in late March. Over the five days of trading the flagship index rallied 2 per cent – its best one-week gain since mid-December.
Overnight on Thursday, the European Central Bank cut its key rate to 3.75 per cent after saying the inflation outlook had improved markedly. The ECB’s cut came just 24 hours after the Bank of Canada’s own rate cut, which marked the first cut from a G7 economy this cycle.
On Friday, the ASX’s best performing sectors were consumer discretionary and materials, which added 1.2 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
After falling for much of the week, iron ore futures in Singapore bounced 1.9 per cent to $US108.80 a tonne on Friday, pushing mining major Fortescue 1.3 per cent higher to $24.37. BHP rose 1.1 per cent to $44.55.
The gold price held flat during trading on Friday at a two-week high of $US2377 after firming around 1 per cent during trading in the US overnight. Among the gold miners, Regis Resources jumped 3.5 per cent to $1.92 and Bellevue Gold rose 1 per cent to $1.99.
In corporate news, ASX tech darling Life360 launched a secondary listing of shares on the Nasdaq index in the US at $US27 per share. The company’s location tracking app on mobile phones now has more than 66.2 million monthly active users. The stock’s local listing lost 3.5 per cent to $14.17.
Total assets at US-based international equities manager GQG Partners jumped from $US142 billion as at April 30 to $US150.1 billion as at May 31. GQG said it booked $US9.1 billion in inflows in 2024 to May 31. The stock gained 2.3 per cent, closing near a record high at $2.64.
Shares in IDP Education bounced 5.7 per cent to $15.33 after falling more than 7 per cent on Thursday, when the company warned of a large reduction in business due to restrictive policies in Australia and around the world for international students.
At the closing bell, the Australian dollar bought $US66.7¢. The ASX is closed for the King’s Birthday on Monday.