ASX 200 rises to four week high
Written by admin on November 18, 2024
Australia’s share market rose on Monday to a four-week high as uranium shares helped drive the market higher overall.
The benchmark ASX 200 index gained 15 points or 0.18 per cent to 8300.20 points.
The broader All Ordinaries rose by 15.40 points, or 0.18 per cent, to close at 8554.40 points.
The Australian dollar traded flat at 64.64 US cents during trading.
Five of the 11 sectors – health care, IT, financial, real estate and telecommunications – finished in the red.
Monday’s result follows the worst week in almost four months for the Aussie dollar which closed 1.84 per cent lower at .6461.
The bad news for importers and travellers came as comments from Fed chair Jerome Powell impacted the market, when he said he wasn’t in a hurry to lower interest rates again, which traders took as a sign the US would not cut interest rates in December.
Russia announced on Friday night Australian time it would temporarily limit exports of enriched uranium to the US in retaliation for US imposed sanctions on Russian uranium products in May.
This led to the Australian uranium miners Boss Energy and Deep Yellow Resources being the two strongest performing shares on the ASX 200.
Boss Energy rose by 7.34 per cent to $3.07 while Deep Yellow Resources jumped 7.02 per cent to $1.22.
“There is a bit of geopolitical tension creeping back into the energy market,” IG’s market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
“If Russia cuts supply, the world will have to find alternative sources of uranium.
“There aren’t that many places that can pull uranium out of the ground and we are quite lucky in that respect.
“It’s not for the faint of heart the uranium space because it is extremely volatile but when you’re talking about a political football such as uranium you have to be aware of the risks.”
It was also a mixed day for the big four banks with two of the four trading in the green. ANZ rose 0.031 per cent to $32.46 while Westpac grew 0.54 per cent to $33.24.
Commonwealth Bank was the worst performing, falling 1.36 per cent to $153.02, while NAB fell 0.15 per cent to $39.16 after allegations of wrongdoings by the federal watchdog.
Corporate regulator ASIC has filed legal proceedings against National Australia Bank, alleging the bank and a subsidiary failed to respond to 345 financial hardship applications within the 21 day legal time frame.
Life 360 was the worst performing share on the ASX during Monday’s trading, falling 6.726 per cent to $21.220.
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ASX darling Zip fell 3.274 per cent as investors took profits ahead of major tech announcements.
“Zip has a big footprint in the US and the market now has a shadow over consumers getting rate relief in December,” Mr Sycamore said.
“When you are talking about a product that is leveraged to the US consumer, it might be time to take a little bit off the table when it comes to Zip.”
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