The Australian sharemarket climbed on Monday, as markets reacted favourably to the head of the Federal Reserve saying long-expected interest rates cuts were coming soon to help the economy.
The S&P/ASX200 had gained 40.2 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 8,064.10, as of 1.05pm AEST, with nine sectors tracking up, led by real estate, technology and energy, with only health care and consumer staples (down 0.3 per cent) tracking down.
Wall Street bounced higher after the speech. Credit: AP
Cement manufacturer James Hardie Industries was the biggest large cap advancer on Monday, up 5.7 per cent, followed by Seek (up 3.7 per cent), and Seven Group (up 2.8 per cent).
Online retailer Kogan was up at 10.6 per cent in early afternoon trade, after announcing it would pay its first final dividend in several years, of 7.5¢. The company only started paying dividends again in the first half of last year, after a three-year pause during the pandemic.
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Endeavour Group was the biggest loser of the large caps, down 7.4 per cent, despite the Dan Murphy’s and BWS owner reporting record sales of $12.3 billion, an increase of 3.6 per cent on last year, amid cost-of-living pressures driving customers to its subscription business.
It was followed by the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, who reported its cash earnings fell 2.6 per cent to $562 million in the 2024 financial year. It dropped 3.2 per cent just after 1pm AEST, down to $11.95 a share.
Rio Tinto was down 0.3 per cent while BHP (up 0.3 per cent) and Fortescue (up 1.4 per cent) both in the green. The big four banks are all in positive territory, led by Westpac (up 1.1 per cent).
The Aussie was fetching 67.83 US cents at 1.10pm AEST after the US dollar plunged over the weekend when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the time has come to lower its main interest rate from a two-decade high.