Real estate investment trusts, liked by their investors for their annuity-style recurring rental income, led gains along with utilities. Shopping centre landlords Scentre and Stockland rose 1 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively. Office tower owner Charter Hall gained 1.1 per cent and warehouse and data centre group Goodman added 1 per cent.
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On the energy side, power giants Origin and AGL Energy were up 0.5 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively.
WiseTech Global climbed 4.5 per cent, leading tech stocks higher after the embattled software maker made bullish statements about its strategic position and outlook at its investor day, which also featured its new independent directors. Corporate governance scandals have sent the stock down more than 40 per cent this year.
The big four banks ended mixed following the GDP report, with Commonwealth Bank, the nation’s largest lender, slipping 0.1 per cent, while Westpac rose 0.8 per cent, National Australia Bank added 0.7 per cent and ANZ Bank gained 1.5 per cent.
The mining heavyweights were also mixed after Brazil’s Vale, one of the world’s top iron ore suppliers, cut its forecast for output of the steelmaking staple in 2026, as global demand cools and new supply from Africa comes online. BHP added 0.9 per cent and Rio Tinto edged up 0.2 per cent, while Fortescue lost 0.4 per cent.
The first commercial shipment of iron ore from Simandou, a massive new mine in Guinea, is on its way to China, marking the start of a major shift in global supply of the steelmaking material. The vessel set sail on Tuesday from the West African nation, according to data from ship-tracker Kpler.
Market Spotlight for the start of December.Credit: IG Markets
Vulcan Energy Resources, the lithium producer backed by mining tycoon Gina Rinehart, was halted from trade as it secured a $3.9 billion financing package for a project in Germany.
Healthcare stocks finished lower, with biotech giant CSL dropping 0.6 per cent and medical imaging provider ProMedicus losing 2.2 per cent.
On Wall Street overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent, bouncing back from its first loss in six days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6 per cent.
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Boeing was one of the strongest forces lifting the US market after it gave an encouraging forecast for how much cash it will produce next year, soaring 10.2 per cent.
A warning about US shoppers’ strength came from the chief financial officer of Procter & Gamble, the giant behind Tide detergent, Ivory soap and Oral-B toothbrushes. Andre Schulten said the landscape for US consumers is “volatile” at the moment, though still within the company’s expectations. Procter & Gamble fell 1.1 per cent.
The US economy has been holding up overall, but that’s masking sharp divisions beneath the surface. Lower-income households are struggling with inflation that’s still higher than anyone would like. Richer households, meanwhile, are benefiting from a stock market that’s within 1 per cent of its all-time high set in late October.
In the bond market, Treasury yields were calming following their jumps the day before. The 10-year yield was holding at 4.09 per cent, where it was late on Monday, while the two-year yield eased to 3.51 per cent from 3.54 per cent.
Higher yields can drag prices lower for all kinds of investments, and those seen as the most expensive can take the biggest hit.
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Bitcoin, which tumbled below $US85,000 on Monday as bond yields worldwide marched higher, pulled back above $US91,000. That helped stocks of several crypto-related companies bounce back from sharp slides on Monday.
Strategy climbed 5.8 per cent and more than made up for Monday’s loss. Coinbase Global gained 1.3 per cent, and Robinhood Markets rose 2.2 per cent to recover much of their drops from the day before.
Monday’s climb in yields came after the Bank of Japan hinted that it may raise interest rates there soon. But hopes are still high that the Fed will cut its main interest rate when it meets in Washington next week.
What comes after that for the Fed, though, is uncertain. The Fed has already cut its overnight interest rate twice this year in hopes of shoring up a slowing job market. But lower rates can fan inflation higher, and inflation has stubbornly remained above the Fed’s 2 per cent target.
Complicating things is the US government’s earlier shutdown, which delayed reports on the job market and other areas of the economy.
Investment giant Vanguard said its data suggest the US labour market “remains stable but is still soft compared with last year.”
Overall hiring numbers are slower on a month-to-month basis. But fewer workers are going after job openings because of weaker immigration and an uptick in retirements, according to Adam Schickling, a senior US economist at Vanguard. That in turn means hiring doesn’t need to be as strong in the past to keep the unemployment rate steady.
