Aussie shares reclaim 8000 mark, set to extend streak

The Australian share market has reclaimed a crucial level in morning trade, looking to tie its best winning streak of the year amid a wave of optimism about the economic outlook.

The S&P/ASX200 had climbed as high as 8,025.2 in the first few minutes of trading on Tuesday, its first time above 8000 since August 2, the first day of a sharp two-day sell-off.

At noon AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 22.7 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8003.1, while the broader All Ordinaries had gained 17.3 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 7212.1.

A close in the green would be the ASX’s eighth-straight session of gains, equalling a mark last set in January.

The gains came after a strong lead from Wall Street, where the S&P500 rose one per cent and the Nasdaq climbed 1.4 per cent as three Federal Reserve officials signalled a willingness to begin cutting interest rates as early as September.

Traders were also digesting the release of minutes from the Reserve Bank’s August 5-6 meeting, which showed the board agreed that based on what they then knew, “it was unlikely that the cash rate target would be reduced in the short term”.

At midday, six of the ASX’s 11 sectors were higher, four were lower and industrials were basically flat.

The real estate sector was the biggest mover, dropping 0.9 per cent on a big decline by Dexus.

The office tower owner was down 6.5 per cent to a two-week low of $7.01 after announcing it suffered a net loss of $1.6 billion for 2023/24, primarily driven by unrealised losses on the value of its investment property.

“Markets move in cycles and while conditions are presently challenging, we invest for the long term,” chief executive Ross Du Vernet said.

Also falling on the back of earnings announcements was fleet maintenance company Mader Group, which was down 12.5 per cent, and automotive finance firm Solvar, which had dropped 10.0 per cent.

But companies rising on the back of earnings releases were more common on Tuesday morning.

Those posting significant gains included the business-focused bank Judo Capital Holdings (up 10.1 per cent); engineering company Monadelphous Group (up 11.3 per cent); glovemaker Ansell (up 7.1 per cent); mining services contractor Macmahon Holdings (up 9.5 per cent); lifestyle community developer Ingenia Group (up 7.4 per cent); automotive accessory group ARB Corp (up 6.3 per cent); plumbing company Reliance Worldwide (up 8.3 per cent); and baby retailer Baby Bunting (up 7.5 per cent)

Also, ANZ was up 0.4 per cent to $29.86 after releasing a third-quarter update that included a bad debt charge of $45 million, much smaller than consensus expectations.

The other big banks were mixed, with Westpac and NAB both down 0.3 per cent, while CBA was up 0.5 per cent.

In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP was up 0.9 per cent, Fortescue had added 1.0 per cent and Rio Tinto had added 0.4 per cent.

The Australian dollar had climbed above 67 US cents for the first time since mid-July, buying 67.16 US cents, from 66.81 US cents at Monday’s ASX close.