The ASX surged higher for the third day in a row, capping off its best weekly performance in seven weeks, but TPG plunged after its founder quit. The Australian share market lifted for the third straight day and has put in its best weekly performance in seven weeks, with nearly every sector rising on Friday. The S&P/ASX200 finished 0.49 percent higher at 6824.2, while the All Ordinaries Index lifted 0.58 percent to 7063.1.
CommSec analyst Steve Daghlian said it was the best trading week since early February. “And we’re still on track to lift for a sixth consecutive month as long we can avoid a heavy tumble in the early part of next week,” Mr. Daghlian said. “We had a positive lead from Wall Street last night, which is always helpful, and in recent days, the bond market has also been relatively calm.”
Materials and it led the gains. Lithium producer Pilbara Minerals surged 9.52 percent to $1.03, and iron ore miner Fortescue jumped 3.8 percent to $20.15. Rio Tinto put on 2.16 percent to $110.33, and BHP added 0.42 percent to $45.07. In the tech sector, accounting software provider Xero was a strong performer, advancing 4.12 percent to $127.20.
Telstra announced on Friday it had decided to delist from NZX Ltd at the close of business on June 16 and then move to an exclusive listing on the ASX as part of its bigger plan to simplify the industry, with the telecommunications giant saying its Kiwi shareholders had been reducing over time. Shares in Telstra appreciated 2.4 percent to $3.41.
TPG Telecom founder and chairman David Teoh resigned, ending his near 30-year reign as the figurehead of the immediate $13bn company. TPG shares plunged 6.7 percent to $6.41. The healthcare sector lagged, with biotech heavyweight CSL easing 0.88 percent to $267.46.
Sleep devices company ResMed backtracked 1.39 percent to $24.88, dermal regenerations solutions outfit Polynovo gave up 5.32 percent to $2.85, and hearing device pioneer Cochlear softened 0.54 percent to $212.43. Mr Daghlian noted a2 Milk fell below $8 for the first time in more than three years before clawing back to $8.04, down 1.35 percent.
“It is its ninth straight day of losses, it has only improved once in 18 trading sessions as well, and it certainly has been one of those stocks that has done it quite tough during the pandemic, with border closures to China in particular being a weight.”
Oil Search rose 1.69 percent in the energy sector to $4.22, Santos firmed 1.13 percent to $7.16, Woodside Petroleum found 1.07 percent to $24.54, and Origin was up 0.64 percent at $4.73. “Not a bad performance considering that the oil price fell more than 4 percent last night and has declined around 9 percent over the week as well,” Mr. Daghlian said.
“This has been partly due to concerns about the COVID situation in Europe at the moment.” However, the oil price boosted during the week because of a vast cargo ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal, a central shipping channel.
Shares in embattled financial services group AMP resumed trading after a pause and gained 0.75 percent to $1.34 after denying reports chief executive Francesco De Ferrari was poised to resign. However, it did say the board and Mr. De Ferrari were “constructively discussing the future strategy and leadership of the group, post the completion of AMP’s portfolio review”.
IAG said it had received about 8000 claims as of late Thursday, mainly for property damage, after widespread flooding and storms hit NSW and Queensland. IAG shares dipped 0.2 percent to $4.79. Gig economy marketplace Airtasker shot up 5.93 percent to $1.43.
OpenMarkets Group chief executive Ivan Tchourilov said Airtasker’s listing had been the week’s highlight, doubling its market capitalization and rewarding investors with a 120 percent return in just four trading days. “It’s been an exceptional debut … and traders have flocked to get a piece of the action, with the stock being the most traded across the OpenMarkets client base,” he said.
Investors also piled into Rent.com.au, which gained 4.44 percent to 23.5 cents, Mr Tchourilov said. ANZ firmed 0.97 percent to $28.17, Commonwealth Bank gave up 0.62 percent to $86, and National Australia Bank lifted 0.77 percent to $26.17. Westpac improved 0.91 percent to $24.34 after revealing it was considering shutting almost 50 branches as part of a consolidation strategy. The Aussie dollar fetched 76.23 US cents, 55.37 British pence, and 64.69 Euro cents in afternoon trade.
