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Treasury Wine Estates shares rose 2 per cent after the Penfolds brand owner reported a post-tax profit for fiscal 2024 of $98.8 million, a 61.1 per cent decline, but in line with analysts’ expectations.

Mining services group NRW Holdings was the best performing mid-cap stock, leaping 9.7 per cent after reporting an 18.6 per cent profit jump to $123.8 million.

The laggards

Origin Energy was the biggest large-cap decliner, plummeting 9.4 per cent, despite posting a profit of $1.4 billion, up 32 per cent on last year. However, the company warned the outlook for 2025 looks weaker for electricity profits amid smaller retail margins and higher coal procurement costs.

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Cochlear shares dipped 7.3 per cent after the company reported a profit of $357 million – slightly below market expectations. Shares in property behemoth Goodman Group also lost 1.3 per cent following an initial rally after it beat its own May profit guidance.

The lowdown

David Bassanese, chief economist at Betashares, said the July labour report was “relatively mixed” in terms of its implications for the economy and interest rates. “Despite weakness in consumer spending, the economy retains the capacity to find jobs for tens of thousands of Australians each month,” he said.

Bassanese said the Reserve Bank “won’t lose much sleep” over rising unemployment, with Governor Michele Bullock likely to deliver Australia’s first interest rate cut in February 2025.

The ASX 200’s gains were supported by a rally on Wall Street overnight after a positive US inflation report.

The S&P 500 Index rose 0.4 per cent to follow up on one of its best days of the year. It is now just 3.7 percentage points off its record high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 per cent to finish a day above the 40,000 level for the first time in nearly two weeks. The Nasdaq Composite Index was relatively flat.

Treasury bond yields were steady after the US government said consumers paid prices that were 2.9 per cent higher last month for petrol, food, shelter and other things than a year earlier.

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“We see consumers and businesses relying more and more on devices, and we’re also aware of the pressures consumers are facing from a cost of living point of view,” said Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady of consumers’ willingness to stomach higher prices amid a cost-of-living crunch.

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The federal government has agreed to guarantee all flight bookings for those travelling with struggling airline Regional Express over the next four weeks.

With AP