Biotech giant CSL (up 0.9 per cent) and RMD (up 1.3 per cent) pushed the healthcare sector higher. However, software medical imaging company Pro Medicus was down 2 per cent, following news the company has signed a $30 million seven-year contract with Duly Health and Care (DHC).
The big four banks recovered from a lacklustre morning, with CBA – the biggest stock on the ASX – gaining 0.3 per cent, while Westpac, ANZ and NAB gained 0.4 per cent, 0.5 per cent and 0.7 per cent.
IT stocks rose on the back of a 0.7 per cent rise in the nation’s biggest tech company, WiseTech Global. Software maker Technology One rose 1.1 per cent. Energy heavyweights had a solid day, with Woodside and Santos up 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
The laggards
It was a bad day for mining heavyweights, with BHP (down 0.4 per cent), Rio Tinto (down 0.8 per cent) and Fortescue unchanged. The industrial sector was mixed, with TCL losing 0.6 per cent and Computershare dropping 0.3 per cent.
The lowdown
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Senior investment advisor Adam Dawes said banking and healthcare were some of the best-forming sectors on Tuesday, citing gains by CSL (up 0.9 per cent).
“It looks like the market had a good bounce from a good lead from Wall Street,” Dawes said.
On Wall Street overnight, US stocks recovered from a wobble that was fuelled by weaker-than-expected data on US consumer confidence. While most companies in the S&P 500 retreated, Tesla and Nvidia drove a gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps up over 1 per cent.
However, it was a thin trading session at the start of a holiday-shortened week, with volume roughly 20 per cent below the average of the past month.
To Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson, negative breadth – when falling shares outnumber those that are rising – may not matter as much for high-quality stock indexes with robust price momentum.
Earlier, stocks lost steam momentarily after data showed consumer confidence unexpectedly sank for the first time in three months on concerns about the outlook for the US economy.
The S&P 500 added 0.4 per cent. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.7 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average wavered.
Qualcomm climbed after prevailing at trial against Arm Holdings’ claim that it breached a licence for chip technology. Rumble soared on news that crypto stablecoin firm Tether will buy a stake in the video-sharing platform.
Tweet of the day
Quote of the day
“Soon to be Australia’s biggest sports broadcasting company, DAZN wants to become the “Netflix of sports”. There’s just one problem: Netflix wants that title, too.”
Read more of Calum Jaspan’s analysis of Foxtel’s sale here.
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Read more here.
with Bloomberg