Treasury Estates (down 1.3 per cent) lost most of the gains it made on Thursday. 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.

ASX Ltd dropped 0.4 per cent as it reported an operating revenue of $1 billion in FY24, a record high. The stock exchange operator, which is being sued by ASIC for allegedly misleading statements around the failure of its CHESS replacement project, posted an underlying net profit of $474.2 million, down 3.4 per cent on last year.

In the US, the S&P 500 jumped 1.6 per cent for its fourth-best day of the year and its sixth straight gain as the US sharemarket rights itself following a scary few weeks. It’s back to within 2.2 per cent of its all-time high, which was set last month, after briefly falling close to 10 per cent below it.

The Dow Jones rose 1.4 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite burst 2.3 per cent higher as Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks recovered more of their stumbles from the past month.

Treasury yields also leaped in the bond market following the encouraging economic report. One said US shoppers increased their spending at retailers last month by much more than economists expected, while another said fewer US workers applied for unemployment benefits.

A year ago, such reports could have sent the sharemarket reeling on worries they would push inflation higher. But good news for the economy has proven once again good news for Wall Street, particularly after a report that showed US employers pulled back on their hiring last month by much more than expected.

That dud of a jobs report raised worries that the US economy could buckle under the weight of high interest rates brought by the Federal Reserve, and it contributed to turmoil in sharemarkets worldwide. But Thursday’s reports hint that a perfect landing may be possible, one where the Fed slows the economy’s growth by just enough through high rates to stifle inflation but not so much that it causes a recession.

Loading

“The growth scare isn’t over, but it’s a little less scary,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

Inflation has also been improving since it topped 9 per cent two summers ago, punctuated by reports earlier this week on prices at both the consumer and wholesale levels. That has cleared the way for the Federal Reserve to soon deliver the cuts to interest rates that Wall Street loves.