The ASX shot the lights out despite mixed overseas leads, with supermarkets among the strong performers.
The Australian sharemarket leapt higher despite mixed signals from international markets overnight, bouncing back from a two-day tumble, with gains across the board.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed 1.88 per cent stronger at 7332.2 while the All Ordinaries Index jumped 1.73 per cent to 7629.7.
CommSec analyst Steven Daghlian said the ASX put in a better than expected performance given a unconvincing bounce on Wall Street overnight.
“Tech stocks were down and the broader US market was only up by about a fifth of 1 per cent,” Mr Daghlian said.
He said the last day of the month and quarter could generate some unpredictable moves on markets, with some fund managers using the opportunity to clean up their books and investments.
Consumer staples were strong performers, with Woolworths gaining 2.8 per cent to $39.35 and rival supermarket giant Coles adding 2.17 per cent to $16.99.
Discretionary consumption also fared well, with JB Hi-Fi rising 3.01 per cent to $45.52 after receiving a broker upgrade, Shaver Shop advancing 3.03 per cent to $1.02 and Super Retail Group putting on 3.48 per cent to $12.21.
ANZ appreciated 2.4 per cent to $28.15, Commonwealth Bank put on 1.67 per cent to $104.33, National Australia Bank rose 2.17 per cent to $27.83 and Westpac advanced 3.3 per cent to $26.
“This is one group that can actually benefit from high yields on bonds as far as their margins are concerned,” Mr Daghlian said.
OMG chief executive Ivan Tchourilov said it had been a nice turnaround for Westpac.
“An upgrade from analysts has investors pointing towards a potential dividend or buyback, given the bank’s strong balance sheet,” he said.
Rio Tinto surged 3.4 per cent to $100.18 after publishing its first communities and social performance report, detailing its progress trying to mend relationships with traditional owners in the wake of the Juukan Gorge cave blast debacle.
The miner said it now had 50 additional communities and social performance professionals working at sites around the world, with 300 in total compared to 250 in 2020, while discussions with the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people around reparation continued.
Also, diamonds experts Musson reported the 2021 Argyle Tender – the last ever following the closure of the Rio Tinto mine in Western Australia – could fetch up to $US80m ($A111m) in total, according to “trade chatter”.
“This is sure to be the most sensational tender in the history of the Argyle mine, not only because it is the last one in history, but also because of the extraordinary quantity, quality and rarity of gems on offer,” Musson creative director Olivar Musson said.
BHP improved 3.35 per cent to $37.61 while Fortescue lifted 1.08 per cent to $14.96.
Fortescue advised there had been a fatality at its Solomon Hub in WA’s Pilbara region due a ground collapse and operations had been temporarily suspended while the man’s death was investigated.
Mr Tchourilov noted iron ore futures had risen, with Chinese steel producers stocking up before a national holiday.
“Our blue chips were doing a lot of the heavy lifting today, across both miners and banks,” he said.
He said ANZ was his company’s most sold stock as investors saw a chance for profit-taking, while CBA was conversely its second most purchased.
Beach Energy continued its stellar run, rocketing 9.12 per cent to $1.49.
“Beach Energy has been unstoppable these past couple of weeks and is far and away the most bought stock by Openmarkets traders today,” Mr Tchourilov said.
“They’ve enjoyed a slew of analyst upgrades since their investor briefing presentation on Tuesday and rising oil prices have only added fuel to the fire.
“The announced ambitious production targets, if fulfilled, will capture a lot of value while supply chain kinks inflate oil prices.
“They’ve also lost a lot of risk with their announced supply agreement with BP.
“After losing considerable value last year, this next year is looking to be a lot more promising for Beach Energy.”
Woodside firmed 1.62 per cent to $23.88, Santos gained 1.99 per cent to $7.17 and Oil Search put on 1.86 per cent to $4.39.
Buy-now-pay-later provider Zip announced a deal with Microsoft to integrate Zip technology into the shopping experiences within Microsoft Edge, beginning with the US market.
Tech stocks had done poorly this week due to rising bond yields, Mr Daghlian noted, and Zip only lifted 1.29 per cent to $7.06 on the news.
But it outperformed larger rival Afterpay, which slipped 0.5 per cent to $121.32.
Explosives maker Orica surged 14.54 per cent to $13.79 after receiving a broker upgrade.
“In the past day, it did warn that there will be a number of one-off items that will probably hold back its profits a bit over the year but it also said that business performance had been on the improve,” Mr Daghlian said.
In economic news, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg handed down the government’s final budget outcome, with the actual budget deficit for the 2020-21 financial year amounting to $134.2bn – a $27bn improvement on the most recent forecast given in May and $79.5bn better than flagged in October.
But since then, the economy had been hit by the Delta variant.
Job vacancies fell by 9.8 per cent in the three months to August.
“The result predictably reflects the Delta lockdowns in the southeast of the nation,” CommSec chief economist Craig James said.
“In fact, vacancies slumped 16 per cent in both NSW and South Australia.”
Building approvals rose by 6.8 per cent in August.
The Aussie dollar was fetching 72.05 US cents, 53.55 British pence and 62.1 Euro cents in afternoon trade.
Originally published as Australian sharemarket closes sharply higher, capping off ‘tough month and mixed quarter’
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