Australian share market resurrects after Easter break

William Ton | April 11, 2023

The Australian share market is higher, with all sectors bouncing back into the green on the first trading day since the Easter break.

At noon AEST on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 94.2 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 7,313.2. The broader All Ordinaries was up 95.8 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 7,507.8.

The local market rallied after a disappointing close before the four-day weekend, despite stronger-than-expected employment data in the US on Friday fuelling fears the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates in May due to inflation concerns.

Every single one of the ASX’s 11 official sectors was up by noon, bolstered by the materials sector, which saw a 1.9 per cent sector-wide bump.

Goldminer Newcrest Mining had led the gains in early trading with a 4.7 per cent increase to $29.64 a share after receiving a $A32 billion updated non-binding takeover bid from the world’s largest goldminer Newmont.

Iron ore heavyweights Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto saw gains of 2.2 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively. 

BHP gained 1.7 per cent after the Vietnamese competition watchdog approved the metal mining company’s proposed $9.5 billion takeover of copper miner OZ Minerals.

Copper and gold miner Evolution Mining was up 1.5 per cent to $3.43 despite downgrading its guidance for the third quarter after its Canadian mine underperformed, and as its Queensland mine remained offline due to heavy rain.

The financial sector had a healthy 1.1 per cent gain at noon with the major banks all seeing green.

ANZ led the gains with a 1.5 per cent rise, closely followed by Westpac with a gain of 1.3 per cent. 

NAB and CBA trailed not too far behind with a 1 per cent and 0.7 per cent rise, respectively.

The Australian dollar was buying 66.65 US cents, down from 67.02 US cents on Thursday.