ASX rises from lockdown blues, Evolution mining falls 5%: Aus shares close 1% higher over the week

Market Reports

by Lauren Evans

The Australian sharemarket staged a recovery after dipping as low as 0.25 per cent in early trade to close 0.2 per cent or 12 points higher at 7,348.

The index switched course to have three sectors in the red with Energy as the outlier, down 0.6 per cent followed by Utilities and Technology. Consumer Discretionary and Healthcare both closed 0.4 per cent higher followed by Property.

Shares in BHP (ASX:BHP) tipped an intraday record high of $51.91 this afternoon while Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) closed 0.4 per cent lower at $130.6 after a choppy session. The nation’s largest miner released disappointing Q2 results.

Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) climbed 4.4 per cent after investors digested their June quarterly report yesterday.

Major banks closed in the red. Westpac (ASX:WBC) closed 0.5 per cent lower. NAB (ASX:NAB) and ANZ (ASX:ANZ) both closed 0.3 per lower followed by Commonwealth (ASX:CBA) closing 0.2 per cent lower. 

Over the week, it closed 1.03 per cent or 96 points higher.

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Problem-plagued Pilbara continues to pressure the nation’s largest mining giant, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) with iron ore shipments plummeting 12 per cent to 76.3 million tonnes in the June quarter compared to the same time in 2020.

Wagering services provider, BetMakers (ASX:BET) has recorded over $6.2 million in revenue under the conditional commercial agreements with Waterhouse Group from the commencement of agreements on 22 May 2020 through to 30 June 2021. 

New Zealand’s largest international airport, Auckland Airport (ASX:AIA) has released their monthly traffic update preview for Jun 2021. Auckland Airport recorded an 19.6 per cent increase in total passenger volume versus last year. 

Futures

The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 5 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 3 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 14 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 9 points when the market next opens.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector was Consumer Discretionary, up 0.7 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Energy, down 0.6 per cent.

The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC), closing 4.4 per cent higher at $2.16. It was followed by shares in Nextdc (ASX:NXT) and NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH).

The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN), closing 5.3 per cent lower at $4.69. It was followed by shares in Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) and HUB24 (ASX:HUB).

Asian markets

Japan's Nikkei has lost 0.8 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 0.6 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has lost 0.5 per cent.

Wall Street

Over the last four trading days, the Dow Jones gained 0.3 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 1.1 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,825 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.6 per cent higher at US$222.09 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.4 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.23 lower at US$71.15 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.32 US cents.

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