The Australian sharemarket rebounded on Monday, recovering from its worst single-day loss since Donald Trump’s “liberation day”. The S&P/ASX 200 Index increased by 132.20 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 8841 by late morning AEDT, with gains across all 11 sectors. This follows a 2 per cent pullback on Friday, triggered by falling commodity prices, worries about artificial intelligence, and a drop in Bitcoin. Friday’s sell-off erased $65 billion from the Australian market.
Technology stocks, which experienced significant losses last week due to concerns about AI capital expenditure, saw a strong rebound. WiseTech Global jumped 4.6 per cent, NextDC increased by 4.8 per cent, and TechnologyOne rose by 4.9 per cent. Mining stocks were also boosted by a rebound in commodity prices. Gold rose by 4 per cent towards $US5000 an ounce, and silver increased by 1.7 per cent to $US79.15. Newmont soared by 5.1 per cent, Northern Star by 2.2 per cent, South32 by 3.4 per cent, and BHP by 2.2 per cent.
Reporting season is also underway. Car Group shares surged 10.1 per cent after reporting a profit of $143 million, up 16 per cent and meeting market expectations. Elsewhere, Seek, a company that operates online employment marketplaces, edged up 0.5 per cent despite recognising a $356 million post-tax impairment charge related to its investment in the Chinese job platform Zhaopin. Challenger Group, an Australian investment management firm, fell 3.7 per cent after making a takeover bid for Pepper Money at $2.60 per share, sending Pepper Money soaring 25 per cent.
Web Travel jumped 10.5 per cent after reaffirming its full-year earnings guidance of $147 million to $155 million. Dexus Convenience Retail REIT climbed 2.3 per cent after reporting a statutory net profit of $35.8 million. Argo Investments rose 0.9 per cent after reporting a first-half profit of $130.8 million and increasing its interim dividend to 18.5¢ per share. Volatility is expected to continue throughout the reporting season.
