AU Morning Wrap | Banks Propel ASX 200 to 8250 Points, Narrowing Gap to Record

The US market reached new record highs following the strong start of Q3 bank earnings reports. Both the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ and $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ closed at all-time highs, with the S&P 500 up by 61 basis points and the Dow Jones by 97 basis points just after 4 pm ET. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ also rose by 33 basis points.

The Australian sharemarket surged in the first session of the week, taking a strong cue from US markets and edging closer to its record closing high set in September. The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ climbed 0.48 per cent to 8254.10 points, just shy of the record of 8269.85. US banks' robust performance, which propelled the S&P 500 to a record 5800 last Friday, boosted Australian banks by 0.6 per cent. Additionally, ASX materials stocks rose by 0.7 per cent. China's Ministry of Finance announced new stimulus measures over the weekend to bolster the economy, including increasing government debt for subsidies, bank capital replenishment, and a bond-buying scheme to support the property market. The need for further stimulus was underscored by China's lower-than-expected consumer and producer price indexe.

As of latest data, $Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ is priced at $62,763, down 0.66% in the past 24 hours, while $Ethereum (ETH.CC)$ is priced at $2,464, down 0.49% in the past 24 hours.

$Web Travel Group Ltd (WEB.AU)$, formed from a demerger of Webjet, has dropped 33% to $4.69 after releasing disappointing preliminary results, citing subdued margins in its European WebBeds business.

$TPG Telecom Ltd (TPG.AU)$ is selling its 27,000-kilometre fibre network to Vocus Group for up to $5.25 billion.

$Seek Ltd (SEK.AU)$ has made a $45 million buyout offer for $Xref Ltd (XF1.AU)$, boosting Seek's shares by 1.4% to $25.31, while Xref's shares have surged 55.6% to $0.21.

$Lifestyle Communities Ltd (LIC.AU)$' managing director James Kelly will resign at year-end, leading to a 5.6% drop in shares to $8.87.

$Appen Ltd (APX.AU)$ has completed a $50 million capital raise at $1.92 per share, an 11.5% discount.