Source : THE AGE NEWS
By Staff reporters
The Australian sharemarket has advanced after a choppy session on Wall Street caused by worries coming out of the bond market about the US government’s debt.
The ASX 200 rose 24.1 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8372.7 by 12.25pm AEST on Friday. Six of 11 industry sectors were in the green.
Wall Street has battled through an uncertain week.Credit: Bloomberg
Mining giant Rio Tinto was 1.1 per cent lower in early trade after it announced on Thursday night it had started a global search to replace chief executive Jakob Stausholm, who will step down from his position after spending almost five years at the top.
BHP was 0.5 per cent lower and Fortescue shed 1.2 per cent in early trade.
The big four banks are in positive territory. National Australia Bank added 1.2 per cent, Commonwealth Bank, the biggest company on the ASX, added 1 per cent; ANZ Bank rose 1 per cent; and Westpac gained 0.3 per cent.
Energy stocks are mixed. Woodside was down 0.3 per cent and Santos added 0.5 per cent in early afternoon trade.
Myer lifted 2.7 per cent after issuing a trading update that showed sales declines across the recently acquired Apparel Brands, but an overall modest uptick in sales across Myer’s department store business.
Myer’s total sales lifted 1.9 per cent to $837.2 million for the second half of fiscal 2025 to date (16 weeks). Total sales at Apparel Brands, which includes Jay Jays, Dotti, Portmans, Just Jeans and Jacqui E, fell 3.9 per cent to $211.2 million.
Chief executive Olivia Wirth blamed higher discounts across the retail sector, higher costs of doing business and the cost of fixing a robot warehouse bungle as factors behind the financial performance. The group will host its investor strategy day next Wednesday.
Myer chief executive Olivia Wirth.Credit: Eamon Gallagher
The ASX lost 0.5 per cent on Thursday. The Australian dollar regained losses from overnight to be 0.3 per cent higher at 64.31 US cents at 12.40pm AEST.
Wall Street trading remained choppy throughout most of the day following Wednesday’s big slump for the S&P 500. That loss has put the benchmark index on track for its worst week in the past seven.
The S&P 500 slipped 2.60 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, to close at 5842.01. The Dow Jones fell 1.35 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, to 41,859.09. The Nasdaq composite rose 53.09 points, or 0.3 per cent to 18,925.73.
Technology stocks did most of the heavy lifting for Wall Street. The majority of stocks within the S&P 500 lost ground, but gains for technology companies with outsized values offset those losses. Google’s parent Alphabet jumped 1.4 per cent and Nvidia rose 0.8 per cent.
The choppy trading this week and the sharp decline for stocks on Wednesday follows several weeks of mostly gains that have brought the S&P 500 back within 5 per cent of its all-time high.
“We’ve had a good bounce here, but the market is looking for some excuse to take some money off the table,” said Wells Fargo Investment Institute senior global market strategist Scott Wren.
Treasury yields held a bit steadier in the bond market, but only after oscillating earlier in the morning after the House of Representatives approved a bill that would cut taxes and could add trillions of dollars to the US debt. The bond market has been the epicentre of Wall Street’s action this week. Yields have been broadly on the rise in part because of worries about the US government’s spiralling debt.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed as high as 4.63 per cent before the US stock market opened for trading, before receding to 4.54 per cent. It stood at 4.58 per cent late on Wednesday and was as low as 4.01 per cent early last month. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for action by the Federal Reserve, slipped to 3.99 per cent from 4.02 per cent late on Wednesday.
Wall Street had several economic updates on Thursday.
The number of Americans filing unemployment claims last week fell slightly. The broader employment market has remained strong, though businesses remain worried about the economic uncertainty amid a trade war.
The market had briefly turned higher earlier in the day following a better than expected report on manufacturing and services in the US. The survey by S&P Global showed growth for both areas in May following a sluggish April.
“Business confidence has improved in May from the worrying slump seen in April, with gloom about prospects for the year ahead lifting somewhat thanks largely to the pause on higher rate tariffs,” said S&P Global Market Intelligence chief business economist Chris Williamson.
With AP
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