Australian market lifts on interest rate hopes
The Australian share market climbed on Monday, buoyed by increasing expectations that the United States Federal Reserve will implement an interest rate cut this week. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by 36.6 points to close at 9055.6, while the All-Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) posted similar gains. Eight out of eleven sectors ended in positive territory, led by industrials, financials, and technology. The local rally followed a strong lead from Wall Street after US inflation data came in softer than expected, boosting confidence in imminent monetary easing. Financial stocks were a major driver, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Limited (ASX: NAB), Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC), and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ASX: ANZ) all advancing.
Technology and industrials rally as rare earths fall
Tech shares surged in response to upbeat earnings sentiment from the US, with Life360 Inc. (ASX: 360) up 4.7 per cent, Zip Co Limited (ASX: ZIP) gaining 3 per cent, Block Inc. (ASX: SQ2) rising 1.8 per cent, and Appen Limited (ASX: APX) up 4 per cent. Industrials also performed well, with Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) climbing 3.4 per cent and Austal Limited (ASX: ASB) advancing 3.1 per cent. However, rare earths stocks declined sharply amid continued profit-taking following last week’s critical minerals deal between Australia and the US. Arafura Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARU) dropped 9.6 per cent, while Australian Strategic Materials Limited (ASX: ASM) fell 11 per cent. Meanwhile, PolyNovo Limited (ASX: PNV) rose 3.9 per cent after its chairman stepped down, and Nuix Limited (ASX: NXL) tumbled 16.8 per cent following the CEO’s resignation.
Global optimism on trade talks and tech rally
US equities surged to record highs after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated progress on a trade framework between Presidents Trump and Xi. The S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPX) climbed 1.2 per cent, the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: IXIC) jumped 1.9 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DJI) added 350 points. The session was led by semiconductor stocks, with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) up over 2 per cent, while QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) soared 9.5 per cent after unveiling new AI-focused data center chips. Tech heavyweights also rallied, including Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) with a 4.2 per cent gain and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) up 1.3 per cent, ahead of key earnings from Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), alongside an anticipated 25 basis point rate cut from the Fed.
| Australian Indices | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| ASX 200 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 5.6 | 13.7 |
| Financials | 0.5 | -1.0 | 2.6 | 6.4 | 18.0 |
| Resources | 0.5 | 0.0 | 4.3 | 14.8 | 16.7 |
| Information Technology | 0.4 | 1.1 | -1.8 | -0.7 | 18.8 |
| Global Indices | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| US 500 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 7.6 | 19.4 |
| Europe | -0.1 | 0.4 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 22.4 |
| Japan | 0.9 | -0.9 | 2.9 | 9.7 | 25.6 |
| China top 50 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 6.0 | 32.1 |
| India top 50 | -0.4 | -0.1 | 5.4 | 2.1 | 1.3 |
| Fixed Interest | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| Australian Treasury Bond | -0.2 | -0.1 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 6.2 |
| Australian Corporate Bond | -0.2 | -0.1 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 6.9 |
| US Treasury | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 4.8 |
| Cash | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 4.2 |
| Commodities & Crypto | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| Gold | -1.4 | -4.3 | 9.6 | 23.8 | 51.1 |
| Silver | -2.0 | -7.2 | 7.3 | 24.9 | 45.0 |
| Crude Oil | 0.7 | 7.9 | -5.6 | -2.6 | 4.0 |
| Bitcoin | 3.2 | 2.7 | 5.4 | 0.0 | 68.0 |