Australian stocks gained more than 1% on Thursday, led by a surge in News Corp’s local shares on upbeat results, as investors shrugged off immediate fears of a global trade war and keenly awaited the upcoming earnings season.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed at 8,520.7 points, just under 12 points shy of its all-time high of 8,532.3.
Traders looked past the trade tumult that weighed on the financial markets this week following U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and China’s retaliatory action.
Corporate earnings in Australia will begin next week, and while modest growth is expected, traders will scrutinize whether profits justify the stretched valuations, particularly in the face of challenges including U.S. tariffs.
Local economic data over the last few months has shown that the economy has not only prevented a recession, but has also been doing well across various different data point.
Richard Schellbach, a strategist with UBS, expects the results and outlook statements to reflect the improved set of conditions that formed through the December-quarter such as easing inflation, jobs strength, higher wage income and growth in retail sales.
Australian shares rise on commodity boost; US-China trade war stays in focus
Australia-listed shares of News Corp rose 5.8% to top the benchmark index after the global media giant’s second-quarter earnings beat analysts’ estimates.
Banks led sectoral gains, ending 2% higher in their biggest daily rise in three weeks. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, due to report its earnings on February 12, hit a record high.
“The expectation is that results will be pretty good andthat’s why you see a bit more positivity coming into the market and banks, being one of the largest sector, doing quite well today,” said Jun Bei Liu, portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners.
Consumer discretionary stocks also gained, adding 1.9%, with Wesfarmers ending 3.2% higher after UBS upgraded the conglomerate’s stock to “neutral” from “sell” on expectations of strong performance at hardware chain Bunnings.
“The expectation is for the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut (rates) in the following week and these consumer names have rallied quite aggressively into this cut,” Liu said.
Among other sub-indexes, miners advanced 0.8%, although energy stocks fell 0.3% on lower underlying oil prices.
New Zealand’s financial markets were closed for a public holiday.
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