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Australian shares rallied on Wednesday afternoon, tracking a strong lead from Wall Street. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.9%, or 76 points, to 8207.8 by 2:21 PM AEDT, with all 11 sectors in the green. The consumer discretionary sector led gains, rising 1.4%, with Wesfarmers up 1.6% and JB Hi-Fi adding 2.4%. All major banks posted gains, with National Australia Bank leading at 1.2%.
Many pundits are speculating that the 2024 US Presidential election is looking like a Trump victory, so investors will likely follow the “2016 Playbook”
Equities headed higher overnight with bullish bets emerged as voting began in the “Trump vs Harris” show, which has turned out to be more tightly contested presidential election than first thought (at least that what the media would like you to believe)
Australian shares slipped as voting in the pivotal US presidential election commenced, widely seen as the year’s most significant market event. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 32.8 points, or 0.4%, to close at 8131.8. This followed declines in US equities, a rise in Treasuries, and a dip in the dollar amid indications that Kamala Harris was leading in a key battleground state, unsettling bets on a Trump comeback.
Equities drifted lower overnight as investors opted for caution ahead of the presidential election and the Federal Reserve’s two meeting.
The Australian sharemarket saw early afternoon gains, following a positive Wall Street lead, with the S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.6% (47.7 points) to 8166.5 after a 1.1% decline last week—its worst since August. Tech and utilities led sector gains, while mining and energy fell amid a volatile outlook as investors prepared for US elections, corporate earnings, and central bank meetings.
Stocks ended higher on Friday, rebounding from the previous day’s sell-off as Amazon’s strong earnings countered a significant drop in U.S. job growth in October.
A wrap of the week in markets from the boys at MPC Markets.
We cover stocks, politics, opportunities on the ASX and geopolitics
Australian shares fell to a seven-week low on Friday, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 0.9% or 75 points to 8085 by early afternoon, after declines earlier this week. Financials led the downturn as Macquarie Group dropped 4.3%, hitting a one-month low due to disappointing first-half FY25 profits and a dividend cut. The big four banks all declined over 1%, with National Australia Bank down 2.2%.
Global X Ultra Short Nasdaq 100 Hedge Fund (SNAS) is an exchange traded managed fund that aims to provide investors with geared returns that are negatively related to the returns of the Nasdaq-100 Index by investing primarily in a portfolio of short E-mini Nasdaq-100 Futures contracts listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Stocks closed sharply lower Thursday as Meta and Microsoft fueled a rout in tech, while hotter inflation muddied the path for deeper Federal Reserve rate cuts.
