The Australian sharemarket reached a record high on Thursday, marking its longest winning streak in over a month. The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose by 111.20 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 9118.30 at 12.18pm AEDT, exceeding its prior intraday all-time peak of 9115.20. This surge occurred even as the unemployment rate unexpectedly held steady at 4.1 per cent, with 17,800 jobs added in January, slightly below the anticipated 20,000.
Energy emerged as the top-performing sector on the ASX, boosted by a 4.1 per cent increase in oil prices to over $US70 per barrel, driven by concerns regarding a potential US-Iran military conflict. Woodside Energy increased by 3.1 per cent, Santos by 4.7 per cent, and Beach Energy by 2 per cent. Conversely, Whitehaven Coal experienced a 4.7 per cent share price drop following a reported underlying loss of $19 million for the first half, attributed to lower coal prices. Financial stocks extended their gains over the past month to 9 per cent, supported by strong performances from major banks.
Among individual stocks, Hub24, a wealth management platform provider offering investment and superannuation solutions, saw a surge of 14.1 per cent after its profit of $68 million, which was up 60 per cent year-on-year, came in ahead of expectations. Sonic Healthcare, a pathology giant providing diagnostic services to medical practitioners, rallied 13.2 per cent after reporting better-than-expected activity in Australia and Germany. Zip, however, crashed 36.5 per cent as cash EBITDA of $124 million fell short of expectations, and activity in the US slowed.
