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The Australian sharemarket has maintained its momentum after a positive start on Monday, paring back some of the losses it incurred in the previous trading week.
The ASX/S&P 200 index gained 88.2 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 8155.2 points as at 12.41pm AEDT, after losing 2.8 per cent over the past week. All 11 industry sectors were in the green, with financial, real estate and consumer stocks among the biggest winners.
The Australian dollar traded flat, and was valued at 62.54 US cents as at 12.39pm.
The ASX narrowly avoided a festive fumble on Monday morning after a key system for processing trades was hampered by a glitch on Friday.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Commonwealth Bank – the largest stock on the ASX - rose 1.9 per cent, and was followed into the green by ANZ (up 1.8 per cent), Westpac (up 1.5 per cent) and NAB (up 1.5 per cent). Macquarie gained 1.7 per cent, while Suncorp (up 1.9 per cent) and QBE (up 0.5 per cent) also moved up. Digital financial services firm Zip Co. was one of the biggest winners on Monday, adding 7.1 per cent.
Kmart and Bunnings owner Wesfarmers (up 2 per cent) rose, while JB Hi-Fi (up 2.7 per cent) and Aristocrat Leisure (up 1.1 per cent) also advanced. The real estate sector (up 1.7 per cent) enjoyed a solid start, with Goodman Group (up 1.7 per cent), Scentre Group (up 1.6 per cent) and Mirvac Group (up 2.7 per cent).
Woodside Energy (up 1.2 per cent) and Santos (up 0.9 per cent) propped up the energy sector, as Ampol (down 0.8 per cent) retreated. Mining giants BHP (down 0.2 per cent) and Rio Tinto (down 0.8 per cent) fell, while Fortescue (up 0.1 per cent) observed a modest rise.
Gold miners Newmont (up 3.2 per cent) and Northern Star Resources (up 1.1 per cent) traded positively, after facing significant losses last week as the gold price tumbled to its lowest price in a month.
Mineral explorer Deep Yellow (up 6.1 per cent) recouped some of the losses it faced last week, after telling shareholders it wouldn’t make a final investment decision on its Tumas uranium mine in Namibia until early March amid delayed costings and quotes for equipment and construction.
Origin Energy (up 1.4 per cent) and APA (up 1 per cent) posted gains, while Mercury New Zealand (down 3 per cent) fell. Meridian Energy traded flat, while AGL grew 0.2 per cent.