Meanwhile, data centre and warehouse owner Goodman Group (up 2.1 per cent) led the property sector higher. Consumer discretionary stocks also had a strong day, with Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks owner Wesfarmers and JB Hi-Fi both up 1.8 per cent. Harvey Norman gained 1.1 per cent.
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Gold miners Northern Star and Newmont each added 1.2 per cent, while Evolution Mining rose 0.3 per cent as prices for bullion headed for a third weekly gain.
The laggards
Woolworths shares were 0.3 per cent lower and Coles shares were down 0.5 per cent, as the two supermarket chains said they were reviewing a Federal Court decision over the underpayment of staff. On Friday, the court found they had failed to keep accurate records of staff rosters, with the grocery giants facing the prospect of paying tens of millions of dollars more to more than 30,000 current and former staff.
Mining stocks were mixed. Among iron ore heavyweights, the nation’s biggest miner BHP lost 0.9 per cent, but Rio Tinto rose 0.9 per cent and Fortescue jumped 1.1 per cent.
Energy stocks dipped, with Woodside down 0.4 per cent and Santos shedding 0.6 per cent as oil prices retreated.
The lowdown
It’s been a rollercoaster week for local investors as a spike in global bond yields caused the nation’s top 200 companies to plummet 1.8 per cent on Wednesday in the ASX’s worst session since April 9, which came in the days after US tariff announcements roiled global markets.
However, as bonds stabilised, so did the sharemarket, with bargain hunters stepping in on Thursday and Friday and helping recoup a large part of the losses. Sentiment was helped by strong leads from Wall Street ahead of a highly anticipated report on the US jobs market, which investors hope will prompt the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates at its next meeting later this month.
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Overnight, the S&P climbed 0.8 per cent, the Dow Jones gained 0.8 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1 per cent.
US stocks got some lift from the easing pressure in the bond market, where Treasury yields fell following reports on the weaker US job market. One report suggested employers, not including the government, nearly halved their hiring last month. Another said that more workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an indication of rising layoffs.
Neither number is flashing a recession, and a third report on activity for businesses in the information and other services industries showed a stronger-than-expected growth.
The upside for investors of a slowdown in the job market is that it could push the US central bank to consider cutting its main interest rate for the first time this year. Such cuts can kickstart the economy and job market, though they can also stoke inflation.
So far this year, the Fed has kept its main interest rate on hold because it’s been more worried about inflation potentially worsening because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs than about the job market.
US stocks got some lift from the easing pressure in the bond market.Credit: Bloomberg
“The year started with strong job growth, but that momentum has been whipsawed by uncertainty,” according to Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. She said several things could be behind the slowdown, including “labour shortages, skittish consumers, and AI disruptions”.
A more comprehensive report on the job market’s health during August will arrive on Friday from the US Labour Department, and it will likely carry much weight with the Fed. Ahead of it, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.18 per cent from 4.22 per cent late on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, American Eagle Outfitters jumped 37.9 per cent after the teen fashion retailer reported more than double the profit that analysts had expected for its latest quarter. It benefited from a frenzy of media attention in late July over a provocative advertising campaign featuring actor Sydney Sweeney.
The ads – which featured the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” – sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards and the backlash to “woke” American politics and culture.
With AP
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