Sharemarket advances on mining, energy stocks

Australian shares advanced on Monday, with the benchmark coming within 33 points of its record high at the closing bell following a rally in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 added 0.6 per cent, or 49.3 points, to 7863.7, with seven of 11 sectors finishing in the green.

Meanwhile, the broader All Ordinaries added a similar amount.

Against the greenback, the Australian dollar was higher, climbing to US66.97c at 4.30pm.

KCM Trade chief market analyst Tim Waterer said after Beijing had “upped the ante” with its latest round of economic stimulus, hopes of a turnaround in the country’s debt-ridden property sector had been buoyed.

“There is hope that the stimulus is pretty likely to at the very least stabilise the property sector, or to perhaps potentially lead to a turnaround in the future,” Mr Waterer said.

After Wall Street’s benchmark Dow Jones index surpassed 40,000 points for the first time on Friday, Mr Waterer added that rate cut expectations were fuelling a bullish outlook.

“Equity investors are still feeling a bit better about the inflation picture … there’s renewed hope that the Federal Reserve will begin to cut by September,” he said.

On the benchmark index, materials stocks drove much of the rally, rising 1.9 per cent, as heavyweight iron ore miners tracked a rally in futures for the key steelmaking ingredient to $US119 a tonne on the Singapore Exchange.

BHP rose 1.9 per cent to $45.72, Rio Tinto climbed 2.8 per cent to $135.87 and Fortescue jumped 1.1 per cent to $27.24.

Nickel miners advanced as supply fears gathered pace due to disruptions arising from riots in North Caledonia.

South32 added 3.5 per cent to $3.89 and Nickel Industries jumped 4.9 per cent to $1.07.

With gold spot prices hitting a fresh record of $US2440.59 an ounce, miners for the precious metal also rallied. Northern Star reached $15.11, up 2.9 per cent.

Elsewhere in the sector, copper miners surged as price for the industrial metal eclipsed $US11,000 tonne, a record high, on the London Metal Exchange on Monday. Sandfire Resources rallied 3.9 per cent to $10.03.

Energy stocks were the top performers, adding 2.2 per cent as Brent crude traded above $US84 a barrel, buoyed by restocking in China and geopolitical tensions in the Red Sea.

Woodside jumped 2.1 per cent to $28.08 and Santos climbed 2.1 per cent to $7.71.

Financials also supported the index, rising 0.6 per cent. The big four banks were led by Westpac, up 0.8 per cent to $26.97.

CBA and NAB rose 0.6 per cent to $121.77 and $34.73, respectively, while ANZ finished 0.2 per cent higher to $28.18.

In individual stocks, Elders reported net income of $11.6m, down 76 per cent year-on-year, slashing its first half dividend by 22 per cent. Investors shrugged off the weaker-than-expected results, with sharesfinishing up 1.1 per cent to $8.30.

Shares in Michael Hill International dived 22.6 per cent to 48c, their biggest intraday drop since 2018.

Analysts at Citigroup downgraded the jewellery retailer to a “neutral” rating following a weaker than anticipated trading update.

Online wagering company Pointsbet surged 9.9 per cent to 50c after it unveiled improved earnings guidance of between $4m to $6m. Previously, the company had forecast a loss of between $9m and $14m.

Nuix vaulted 25.2 per cent to $2.98 – its highest since November 2021.

The local analytics software developer said it expected underlying core profit for the current financial year of between $63m and $68m, up 36 per cent year-on-year.

Embattled gaming giant Star Entertainment rocketed 20 per cent to 54c after reports emerged that Florida-based casino group Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos is eyeing control of the Star.