Australian Shares Hover at Over 5-Week High
Australian equities advanced 33 points or 0.4% to 8,838 in early Monday trade, extending prior gains and marking their highest level in more than five weeks. Sentiment was buoyed by a rebound in U.S. equity futures after last week’s chip-sector rout, with investors shifting focus to earnings amid mounting pressure on the AI trade. Locally, softer-than-expected labor data cooled bets on a near-term rate hike by the Reserve Bank. Gains were tempered by caution ahead of key Chinese releases later today, including September activity, home prices, and Q3 GDP. Energy minerals and industrial services led the rise, with Nextdc (3.6%), AGL Energy (1.7%), and Whitehaven Coal (1.2%) among notable movers. Challenger Ltf. surged 14.5% after TAL Dai-ichi Life reportedly made a non-binding takeover proposal at AUD 11.80 per share. Meanwhile, the four big banks added between 0.9% and 1.3%. In contrast, BHP Group slipped 0.5%, and Rio Tinto edged down 0.2%.
Australian equities advanced 33 points or 0.4% to 8,838 in early Monday trade, extending prior gains and marking their highest level in more than five weeks. Sentiment was buoyed by a rebound in U.S. equity futures after last week’s chip-sector rout, with investors shifting focus to earnings amid mounting pressure on the AI trade. Locally, softer-than-expected labor data cooled bets on a near-term rate hike by the Reserve Bank.
Gains were tempered by caution ahead of key Chinese releases later today, including September activity, home prices, and Q3 GDP. Energy minerals and industrial services led the rise, with Nextdc (3.6%), AGL Energy (1.7%), and Whitehaven Coal (1.2%) among notable movers. Challenger Ltf. surged 14.5% after TAL Dai-ichi Life reportedly made a non-binding takeover proposal at AUD 11.80 per share.
Meanwhile, the four big banks added between 0.9% and 1.3%. In contrast, BHP Group slipped 0.5%, and Rio Tinto edged down 0.2%.