ASX finishes tough week on a high

The benchmark S & P/ASX200 increased 1.1 per cent, or 78.5 points, to reach 6,978.2 and climbing above the key technical 6,800 level. The All Ordinaries was similarly strong, adding 1.1 per cent to reach 7,175,1. The Australian dollar is trading at US64.34c.

Ten of 11 sectors finished in the green, led by a jump in Industrials, up 2.1 per cent.

The rally on the benchmark following an advance in US equities overnight after the Federal Reserve hinted it was nearing the end of its tightening cycle. The S & P500 – the US benchmark – rose 1.9 per cent, its best session since April.

Energy stocks were the worst performers, falling just 0.1 per cent as global oil prices remain volatile given the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

“Most global share markets rebounded over the last week from oversold levels on the back of increasing optimism that the Fed has finished raising rates, strong US earnings results and the war in Israel being relatively contained so far,” AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said in a note to clients on Friday.

In company news, Qantas climbed 2.1 per cent to $5.19 after the national carrier held its AGM in Melbourne. Although a push to dump the election of five Qantas-backed directors to the board failed, the airline’s remuneration report was resoundingly rejected by 83 per cent of voting shareholders.

“We have some big challenges in front of us, but we’re in a strong position to meet them,” outgoing Qantas chair Richard Goyder said at the meeting.

Treasury Wine Estates, owner of Penfolds, plunged 8.8 per cent to $11.04. Following Tuesday’s announcement that it was acquiring Californian winemaker Daou Vineyards, the company completed the institutional component of its entitlement offer.

Despite recording a 39 per cent drop in half-yearly net profit to $1.4bn, Macquarie Group shares jumped 1.8 per cent to $163.24.

Property developer Lendlease rose 1.1 per cent to $6.38. The increase came, however, after the firm announced it was severing ties with Google to help develop the search engine’s San Francisco Bay precinct.

Block, parent company to ‘buy now, pay later’ major Afterpay, surged 25.2 per cent to $81.18 after the company upped its profit forecast for 2023 to be up to $US1.68bn ($AU2.49bn).

eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert said while markets had entered into an oversold territory off the back of what was the worst week of our worst month of 2023, the ASX had rebound strongly.

“As we see it, there’s a pretty positive end to the year, a strong two months ahead,” Mr Gilbert said.

While acknowledging the positive signals coming from the US Federal Reserve earlier this week, it was an “opposite” story for the Reserve Bank.

“Now there’s a question mark over not just one hike but even maybe another,” he said.

Originally published as Australian share market climbs 2.2 per cent over past week