AU Evening Wrap: Australia Shares Rise 1.65% in Largest Gain Since December
Market Performance
Australia's $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ closed 1.65% higher at 7881.3, as a jump in unemployment eased worries that the country's central bank might resume raising interest rates. Financial, consumer and real-estate stocks all jumped as the benchmark index wrapped up its strongest daily gain since December.
Among banks, $Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AU)$, $CommBank (CBA.AU)$, $ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ANZ.AU)$, $National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB.AU)$ and $Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG.AU)$ -- which comprise more than 20% of the ASX 200 by market capitalization--put on between 1.4% and 2.85%.
Gaming-tech company $Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ALL.AU)$ surged 12% on the announcement of a strategic review, helping lift the consumer discretionaries sector by 2.45%.
Energy was the only one of the ASX's 11 sectors to finish lower, slipping 0.3% amid oil-stock weakness.
![Source: ASX](https://sgsnsimg.moomoo.com/sns_client_feed/151000101/20240516/3f424c77be264ef3947cb999a8fcf585.jpg?area=102&is_public=true)
![AU Evening Wrap: Australia Shares Rise 1.65% in Largest Gain Since December](https://sgsnsimg.moomoo.com/sns_client_feed/151000101/20240516/c73625ddb371449d9678e67d02fc34e6.jpg?area=102&is_public=true)
![AU Evening Wrap: Australia Shares Rise 1.65% in Largest Gain Since December](https://sgsnsimg.moomoo.com/sns_client_feed/151000101/20240516/3bd4861d6cb547c096d56b4bb7b95d92.jpg?area=102&is_public=true)
Top News
Australia's Latest Jobs Report Shows Signs of Weakness, According to Nomura Analysts
Nomura research analysts have identified several signs of weakness in Australia's latest labor force report, and they expect more softness ahead. Although job growth over the past three months is up 2.8% from a year earlier, the growth is skewed towards part-time employment, with hours worked up only 0.6% over the same period. In terms of ABS trend data, part-time employment represents 31% of the workforce but accounted for 76% of the 355,000 jobs created in the last year.
Nomura analysts Andrew Ticehurst and David Seif noted that sub-trend GDP growth over the past few quarters, as well as leading indicators such as ANZ job ads and the NAB survey, suggest that employment growth will ease in the coming months. They expect unemployment to trend up through the year, given the current economic conditions.
Chinese Property Stocks Rally as Government Announces Rescue Steps
Chinese property developers' stocks have surged in the wake of government initiatives aimed at reviving the struggling real-estate sector. The government's move to buy up excess housing and use it for public housing, as well as encouraging state-owned enterprises to participate in a housing trade-in program, has fueled expectations of a market revival, leading to a surge in property developers' shares.
Officials in Hangzhou announced that they would purchase private residential units in a district with a surplus of homes and use them for public housing, contributing to the positive market sentiment. Similar plans were also announced in the city of Dali. These moves follow other recent initiatives, including Nanjing's assistance in renovating or purchasing homes for public housing.
Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR, ASX
Disclaimer: Moomoo Technologies Inc. is providing this content for information and educational use only.
Read more
Comment
Sign in to post a comment