The Australian sharemarket slowed down after a very strong previous fortnight, but it still eked out a modest win on the eve of the federal budget.
Local investors continued to rally despite reservations about the war in Ukraine and a Covid-19 lockdown in the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai, with another strong showing by materials helping the index to avoid a tech drag.
The benchmark ASX 200 index managed to rise by 6.2 points or 0.08 per cent despite a late afternoon dip to finish the session at 7412.4.
The broader All Ordinaries didn’t quite make it over the line, falling by 0.6 points, or 0.01 per cent, to close at 7689.3 points.
The Australian dollar was steady, hovering around a five-month high of about US 75 cents.
Materials and financials finished respectively in first and second place of the four local sectors to close higher in a mixed session in which technology was the worst performer.
City Index senior market analyst Tony Sycamore said the “insatiable” appetite of offshore investors for Australia’s mining giants had played a big part in the local index lifting for eight of the past nine days.
But Australian investors appeared to have followed Wall Street’s overnight squeamishness on the Nasdaq, with most IT companies in the red.
Tribeca portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu said investors had been a little more realistic after the surprising strength of the index over the past few weeks.
“This is probably in responsexjmtzyw to what has happened in the last week or so, with the US bond yields moving higher and the Fed becoming hawkish,” she said.
“In general, it’s reasonably positive and in terms of the strength, it was really driven by the cyclical companies.”
Xero fell by 5.16 per cent to $99.03, Seek declined by 3.88 per cent to $28.97, Afterpay owner Block lost 3.72 per cent to $171.45, while Appen dropped 3.58 per cent to $6.73.
Materials continued to avoid the volatility elsewhere in the market, with iron ore prices driving up BHP stocks to fresh highs for the year – with gains of 2.31 per cent to $50.92.
Rio Tinto added 1.37 per cent to $118.47 and Fortescue Metals Group added 0.78 per cent to $19.42. New Hope Coal closed 2.04 per cent higher at $3.50 and Mineral Resources was up 1.07 per cent at $49.21.
AVZ Minerals was the strongest performer of the day, securing a 3.95 per cent increase to $1.185.
The energy sector had an off day, with Santos shares flat at $7.94 and Woodside Petroleum falling by 1.28 per cent to $33.16.
Financials were pretty strong, with the major banks closing higher ahead of the release of the 2022 federal budget on Tuesday night, in which Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is expected to unveil a household assistance package to address increasing cost-of-living pressures.
Westpac lifted by 1.18 per cent to $24.03, NAB closed 0.79 per cent higher at $31.91, ANZ added 0.65 per cent to $27.79, Commonwealth Bank added 0.21 per cent to $106.14, while Macquarie Group was up 1.12 per cent to $200.09.
Star Entertainment Group chief executive officer Matt Bekier resigned on Monday after bombshell evidence of misconduct at the casino giant was aired during an inquiry last week.
His stepping down didn’t stop shares in the Crown rival from rising by 0.31 per cent to $3.24.
