Enter your details to join our mobile app waitlist and receive early access to the Bell Direct App.
Over in the US on Tuesday, a sharp decline in Treasury yields boosted equities on Wall Street to extend this week’s rally into Tuesday as investors assess the geopolitical and long-term risks of the war in Israel. The Dow Jones rose 0.4%, the S&P500 added 0.6% and the Nasdaq rose 0.7%. Easing oil prices on Tuesday also boosted investor sentiment after the price of the commodity rose 5% on Monday on concerns of the long-term effect of the war in Israel. Investors in the US are also looking ahead with optimism at the release of third-quarter earnings results out later this week.
In Europe on Tuesday, markets reversed Monday’s losses to close higher across the region despite rising tensions in the Middle East. The STOXX600 rose 2% boosted by travel stocks rising 3.9% despite the global uncertainty around travel as airlines cancel flights to Israel, while mining stocks rose 2.9%. Germany’s DAX added 1.95% on Tuesday, the French CAC rose 2.01%, and, in the UK, the FTSE100 lifted 1.82%.
The rally on the ASX extended into a third session on Tuesday with the ASX200 gaining 1.01% to close above 7000 points again at the closing Bell, driven by the utilities sector jumping 4.17% followed by technology stocks climbing just over 3%. All 11 sectors closed Tuesday’s session in the green. The local rally followed a positive night in the US overnight after some Fed Officials suggested the recent surge in long-term treasury yields may reduce the need for the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate again. Rate sensitive sectors in Australia were the best performers on Tuesday, including tech and REIT stocks.
Origin Energy did most of the heavy lifting in the Utilities sector on Tuesday, closing the session up 5.5% after Australia’s competition watchdog the ACCC approved Brookfield and EIG Partners’ $18.7bn takeover offer for the leading energy wholesaler.
Weebit Nano, a semiconductor company based in Israel, rallied 6% on Tuesday after confirming its its Israel-based operations had been unaffected by the Hamas-led attacks on the region over the weekend.
Lithium miners were also among the sessions’ winners yesterday with Core Lithium adding 7.3% after being upgraded to neutral by Citi, while Pilbara Minerals jumped 6.17% after being upgraded to a buy rating by Citi.
The local market was also boosted yesterday by Westpac Consumer Confidence data showing a rise of 2.9% for October which well exceeded economists’ expectations of a 0.7% decline and NAB Business Confidence Data also released showed a reading of 1 point which was the third straight month of a steady reading and above the -2 points expected by markets.
On the building crisis front, building permits data for the month of August released yesterday came in at a 7% rise in August which is a strong rebound from the 7.4% decline in July, but building permits year on year still fell 22.9%. Private house approvals month on month though rose 5.8% from a 0.4% rise in August, which shows a slight recovery in the housing sector.
What to watch locally:
Trading Ideas: