ASX traders shaped Friday into another week with price-sensitive technology stocks helping to catapult the local stock market to its three-week high.
Block Inc and Zip Co-led a blistering buy now, pay later rally, while tech stocks like Tyro, Novonix, and Xero also experienced a wave of inflation easing to push the benchmark ASX 200 up 103.9 points, or 1.5 percent, to 7286, 8.
The broader All Ordinaries gained 109.5 points, also 1.5 percent, to close out the day at 7522.6, as the Aussie dollar continued to gain against the greenback.
It bought just under 72 cents at the local closing.
On Monday, BHP was the biggest hitchhiker among miners after news that both Shanghai and Beijing had eased Covid-19 restrictions.
Lithium stocks and prospectors were also strong, although coal companies were a rare piece of red.
Camera icon The benchmark ASX 200 ended Monday with an increase of 103.9 points, or 1.5 percent, to 7286.8, the highest point in three weeks. NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia
Most banks also had gains, even though they were outpaced by names in healthcare and retail conglomerates.
Monday’s rally was the best single session two weeks after the major Wall Street indices closed their best week of the year.
Encouraging data helped allay inflation fears – and thus fears of future Fed tightening – while still showing strength among US consumers.
Tech stocks were the main beneficiaries of Friday’s gains, with Telsa up 7.3 percent, Amazon up 3.7 percent, Apple up 4.1 percent, and Alphabet up 4.2 percent.
IG Markets analyst Hebe Chen said traders have clearly seen a bright spot in recent data that suggests the economy may be more resilient and self-aligning than the market had anticipated.
However, she said it was too early to say that recession concerns have subsided.
“First, none of the data so far is strong enough to convince the Fed to forgo their planned 50 basis point rate hikes in the next few meetings, and remember that they will start culling assets from its USD 9. Trillion balance as of June,” said, M. Chen.
Camera icon Of the health companies, blood giant CSL finished 1.9 percent higher at $274, and ventilator manufacturer Resmed climbed 2.5 percent to $29.22. NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia
“Second, based on the recent forward indicator such as the PPI (Producer Price Index), inflationary pressures will continue to build, suggesting that there is still some time to go before central banks slow the pace of tightening.”
Monday was nevertheless a strong session for high-growth, interest-rate sensitive names in the tech, health, and payments sectors.
Block Inc was up 10.9 percent to $129.85, Zip Co was up 14 percent to 97.5 cents, and Sezzle was up 10.6 percent at 57.5 cents on a great day for businesses that buy now and pay later.
Xero was up 5.2 percent to $92.02, Megaport was up 8.6 percent to $7.73, EML Payments was up 8.1 percent to $1,595, Novonix was up 11 percent to $4.14, and Tyro Payments was up 10, 2 percent to $1,135.
Of the health companies, blood giant CSL finished 1.9 percent higher at $274, and ventilator manufacturer Resmed climbed 2.5 percent to $29.22.
Cochlear won 2.9 percent to $224.77, Fisher and Paykel added 2.8 percent to $18.51, and Pro Medicus led 3.7 percent at $42.27.
BHP rose 2.8 percent to $44.91,; FortescueMetals added 1.3 percent to $19.85 to boost the materials sector,; RioTinto climbed 0.4 percent to $113.80.
It was an even brighter day for lithium miners: Piedmont gained 7.6 percent, Core Lithium rose 5.4 percent, Lake Resources rose 4.6 percent, Vulcan Energy rose 5.3 percent, Mineral Resources rose 2.3 percent, and Pilbara Resources were up 2.4 percent. Cent.
Retail giant Woolworths finished 2.2 percent higher at $34.93, Wesfarmers gained 2 percent to $47.65, and Macquarie was easily the best of the banks, up 2.8 percent to $188.12.
Commonwealth Bank fell 0.1 percent to $106.56, Westpac and NAB each rose 0.5 percent to $24.22 and $31.85, respectively, and ANZ rose 0.4 percent to $35.77.